Thursday, April 3,
2008
DeWitt
Could Be the Answer for Third Base
Copyrighted
by Sarah D. Morris, 2008
For the
first time since 2000, the Los Angeles Dodgers began the season with two
victories. Although every Dodger fan
would have been overjoyed if they could have swept the San Francisco Giants, it
was a little much to wish for this early.
The
Dodgers have a third baseman who shouldn’t be here,
but his contributions have been immeasurable.
On March 10th within a span of
fifteen minutes, the Dodgers lost two third basemen to injuries. Nomar
Garciaparra was hit on the wrist and suffered a micro
fracture. Now he can throw without pain,
but he can’t swing a bat yet.
Undoubtedly, Garciaparra will need a rehabilitation assignment before he
plays for the Dodgers this season.
While
fielding a ground ball, Andy LaRoche tore a ligament in his thumb. He will be unable to play until mid May.
Since
Tony Abreu has played third base at the major league level, the Dodgers hoped
he would be able to do it again. At the
beginning of spring training, he couldn’t play because he experienced abdominal
pain after having off-season surgery to repair a sports hernia. After he visited his doctor in
When
every third baseman was injured, Ned Colletti called the minor league camp to
get an emergency third baseman. Before
this spring, no Dodger fan heard of a kid named Blake DeWitt. While the media was urging Colletti to trade
for a third baseman, the Dodgers let this kid play. He impressed everyone.
If
anyone told me that Blake DeWitt would be the opening day third baseman, I
would have said, “Who?” I didn’t want Colletti to trade for an over-the-hill
third baseman as most of the media hopes he will do. Why do the Dodgers want
Brandon Linge when the Tigers traded for Miguel Cabrera and gave him a large
contract to replace Linge? Why do they
want either Wes Helms or Marcus Giles when their teams released them?
For
many years, I have thought one of the Dodgers’ problems has been they didn’t
trust their young players and often obtained players who were older and past
their prime. I hoped Colletti wouldn’t
panic and get one of these players. I
wanted to see what DeWitt could do at the major league level. I don’t care if he hasn’t played above
Double-A.
Though
people think players who skip Triple-A struggle for their entire career, I have
seen it differently during my time of watching the Dodgers. I have seen more
pitchers who have skipped Triple-A than position players. I believe Steve Sax came to the Dodgers
straight from Double-A and won Rookie of the
Year. Although Adrian Beltre never has played
up to the enormous expectations for him, I don’t think skipping Triple-A is why
he has not done better. I think coming to the major leagues at 19 was a mistake
for Beltre. However, he has had a good
career.
Throughout
spring training, I read and heard how the Dodgers worried about DeWitt’s
ability to hit major league pitching. It
seemed like every game he played he hit.
He has had great defense, and this is more important than his ability to
hit in my opinion. I have felt one of
the Dodgers’ problems since Beltre left has been their inability to find a
decent defensive third baseman.
Since
the season has begun, DeWitt’s play has been a pleasant surprise. In the first three games, DeWitt has had a
.556 batting average and a .667 on-base percentage. I know it is against the San Francisco Giants
who many feel will be the worst team in the league, but he has been super. He has been using his brain when he
hits. He hasn’t swung at many bad
pitches. Though he has played only three
games at the major league level, he has already begun to make adjustments.
I have
received many e-mails from Dodger fans who hope Garciaparra and LaRoche take
their time getting well because they want to see more of Blake DeWitt. I hope he will make us forget that the
Dodgers had a question mark at third base when they went to spring
training. If he continues his great
play, he could be the Dodger third baseman for many years to come.