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[Birdie313]

Dodgers -165 (1 unit)

Kershaw vs Miley

Hard to put a lot of stock in spring stats. Pitching always seems to be ahead of hitting in the early games, so with that being said, I'll take the best pitcher in the game on opening night.:0corn

 

[IE]

Dodgers 25-Man Roster is Now Set



With Game #1 hours away, the Dodgers officially set their 25-man regular season roster this morning... er, this evening. There are some notable surprises.

Backup catcher Tim Federowicz has been sent back to the minors. He finished up the 2013 season as our backup. Now, Drew Butera comes in to replace him. Considering that both players were expected to primarily play defensive roles on the team, I find this change a bit boring. Although, Federowicz does appear to have more potential upside at the plate, based on his minor league stats.

The most surprising news is that Alex Guerrero has made the club out of Spring Training. I had assumed that the Dodgers would follow the same path they laid for Puig - Have Guerrero get his feet wet in the minors before giving him a taste of the 'Bigs'. Instead, he makes the Opening Day roster as an infielder. I suppose the fight for the 2nd baseman starting job between Gordon and Guerrero will extend to the regular season. Extra infielder Miguel Rojas will be reassigned to the minors. Other players reassigned to the minors includes Zach Lee and Joc Pederson.

Being placed on the 15-day DL include Chad Billingsley (right elbow surgery), Josh Beckett (right thumb contusion) and outfielder Matt Kemp (ankle surgery), retroactive to March 19. Also, Dan Haren, Zack Greinke and Brandon League have been placed under a roster exemption. Carl Crawford has been placed on paternity leave. So, when the club gets back to the States there are likely to be some more significant moves.

Below is the full 25-man roster:

Pitchers (12):
Jose Dominguez
J.P. Howell (L)
Kenley Jansen
Clayton Kershaw (L)
Paul Maholm (L)
Chris Perez
Seth Rosin
Paco Rodriguez (L)
Hyun-Jin Ryu (L)
Brian Wilson
Chris Withrow
Jamey Wright

Catchers (2):
Drew Butera
A.J. Ellis

Infielders (6):
Dee Gordon (L)
Alex Guerrero
Adrian Gonzalez (L)
Hanley Ramirez
Justin Turner
Juan Uribe

Outfielders (4):
Mike Baxter (L)
Andre Ethier (L)
Yasiel Puig
Scott Van Slyke

Infielder/Outfielder (1):
Chone Figgins



--Blue Heaven

 

[IE]

Don Mattingly shared his preliminary starting lineup for the first game of the Opening Series match-up against the Diamondbacks in Australia. Check it out above.

As you know, the Dodgers start the season down under, and the first game will be at 1:00 AM Saturday morning (pacific time). So, we are about 14 hours away from the start of the 2014 season. Later that evening, Game 2 will start at 7:00 PM (pacific time).

The Dodgers will be facing Arizona lefthander Wade Miley. In his career, Miley has started 7 games, is 3-1 against the Dodgers and has a 3.59 ERA. Furthermore, he has given up 8 home runs to Dodger players - more than any other club in his career.

As for the Dodger lineup, it should be no surprise that Yasiel Puig will be batting leadoff. This batting position has been discussed in ad nauseum since the start of Spring Training. He isn't your typical leadoff hitter, but with his combination of speed and OBP he should do fine. BTW, last season he leadoff in 27 games, batted .333, OPS'd 1.026 and belted more home runs on average than at any other batting position.

One surprise to this Opening Day lineup is who is batting 2nd. Recent free agent signee, Justin Turner, will get the start at 2nd base and hit 2nd in the lineup over Dee Gordon. Considering his phenomenal Spring, we shouldn't be surprised. He has been splendid with the glove and has batted an impressive .355 the past month. Something tells me that he'll make us forget about not signing Mark Ellis over the winter. He appears to not only be more than capable, but also versatile. Turner can play every infield position.

Just to let you know, the Diamondbacks lost to Team Australia this morning, 5-0. Their top pitching prospect Archie Bradley was wild, and gave up 3 runs in 3 2/3 innings. Team Australia sent out 7 different pitchers to blank the Diamondbacks.

 

[IE]

Pitching Matchups
Game 1

D-backs: Wade Miley, 10-10, 3.55 ERA, 147 K's (2013 Stats)

Miley is replacing an injured Patrick Corbin, who is likely to miss the rest of the season with a UCL tear, while holding a career 3.59 era with a 3-1 record in eight games against the Dodgers. Miley ended last year pitching the best on the team and carried that into Spring Training this year with a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings. This game could be key for Miley in seeing if he will start off the year strong and confident.

Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw, 16-9, 1.83 ERA, 232 K's (2013 Stats)

We all know this guy, the reigning CY Young winner who seems to have the whole league figured out. But for some reason we always seem to find a way to beat Kershaw, as he was 0-1 against us with a 2.11 ERA in three starts against us last year. Kershaw didn't have a very strong spring but he didn't have a good one in 2013 either, and we all saw how that turned out. It'll be key for the D-backs hitters to get on Kershaw early in the game - because if he establishes a rhythm, then he'll be tough to break.
Game 2

Dbacks: Trevor Cahill, 8-10, 3.99 ERA, 102 Ks (2013 Stats)

I won't lie: when I looked at the announced starters for this series and saw Cahill's name I was a little puzzled as Cahill really struggled last year. However, Cahill is the perfect candidate to pitch this game as Trevor owns the Dodgers; he is a perfect 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA in nine starts against them in a D-backs uniform. Cahill's pitching scares some D-backs fans anytime he's on the mound, but he seems to have it figured it out against the Dodgers.

Dodgers: Hyun- Jin Ryu, 14-8, 3.00, 154 Ks (2013 Stats)

When you look at the numbers, Ryu had a pretty stellar rookie season in his first year in the bigs after coming over from Japan. However, like Kershaw he wasn't as hot against the Dbacks with a 1-2 record and 4.65 ERA in five starts against the D-backs last year. It's hard to predict what you'll get in particular out of Ryu in this game; there were a couple starts where he was lights out against us last year in comparison to the other ones. One thing I would like to see is him not beating us with his bat again, that's for sure.


--AZ Snake Pit

 

[Birdie313]

Dodgers -165 (1 unit)

Kershaw vs Miley

Hard to put a lot of stock in spring stats. Pitching always seems to be ahead of hitting in the early games, so with that being said, I'll take the best pitcher in the game on opening night.:0corn

Nice outing by Kershaw, rough game for Puig with 3 k's. Arizona does have a nice lineup this year though and should hang around in the west, possible wild card this year.


YTD 1-0 (+1.0 unit)