Monday, March 17, 2008

The Defense Might Be a Problem

Copyrighted by Sarah D. Morris, 2008

With two weeks to go before opening day, the Dodgers need to improve their play. Although people don’t know if spring training means anything, the Dodgers had the best spring training record last time they won a world championship. In 2004 when they went to the playoffs, they almost matched it.

Although the Dodgers have a difficult spring, baseball has no room for excuses. They are trying to get know their new manager, Joe Torre. Torre has experienced incredible success in New York while with the Yankees, but he had managed in the National League during the 1980s and the early 1990s without much success. Although everyone thinks he will take the Dodgers to the World Series this year, he needs time to adjust to a new league and his new players need time to adjust to him and the new coaching staff.

Being chosen to represent baseball in China as they prepare for the summer Olympics is a great honor for the Dodger organization, but this spring wasn’t the right spring to go to China for them. When they have a new manager and they need to get to know him and vice versa, they needed all of the time that they could get to know each other. While Torre is in China, coaches are leading the team. Andruw Jones and Matt Kemp are the only regulars who went to China. The trip takes time from the team.

Unlike most springs, the Dodgers are moving to a different complex that most haven’t seen before in the middle of spring training. The Players’ Association felt it was too much to expect the players to fly from Florida to China back to Florida for a week and then to California. When I heard about the trip, I was glad that the Players’ Association stepped in, but the move will make the spring more difficult than usual. I was hoping their new spring training complex would be ready but no. The Dodgers are using the Oakland A’s complex while they open the season in Japan. The Dodgers will use the unfamiliar complex only once. When the Dodgers didn’t take most of the team to China, moving will be more bother than it is worth.

Although this spring has been more difficult than usual, the Dodgers need to find a way to win. Most good teams find ways to win under difficult circumstances. The pitching has been good. Although the hitting needs to improve, at this stage of the spring the pitching is usually ahead of the hitting.

What worries me is the defense. This spring the Dodgers have been making too many mistakes to be a good team. I should not be surprised by this, but I am. Although they had the third worst defense in baseball in 2007, I thought it would improve by this spring. I was wrong. I know they didn’t change personnel much, but I thought a year of maturity for the young Dodgers would help the defense. They are making the same mistakes as they did last season.

Although most baseball fans don’t pay much attention to the defense, especially after the book Moneyball came out and said that the defense wasn’t important to a team’s ability to win, I strongly disagree. I haven’t seen any good teams with poor defense. Teams can’t give their opponent more than 27 outs and win. I remember how proud I was when the 2004 Dodgers had the best defense in baseball. I have watched many poor defensive Dodger teams over the years, and it was never fun.

This spring the infield has been hit with injuries. Jeff Kent hasn’t played for over a week because he has a strained hamstring. Over his long career, he has been plagued with injuries in his thigh. Though he thinks he will be ready for opening day, I am not sure. At forty, his muscles won’t heal as fast as they did when he was younger. Last July he missed a week and a half with a similar injury.

With Kent out, the Dodgers wish Tony Abreu was able to play. Abreu, slowly recovering from off-season abdominal surgery, hasn’t played, except for one game this spring. Although the Dodgers labeled him as a second baseman of the future, he is wasting a golden opportunity to show everyone what he can do. Many within the organization are asking whether he has the mental toughness to play baseball.

Delwynn Young is another young player who isn’t making the most of his opportunity. Though he has hit at every level of baseball, he hasn’t hit this spring. He hadn’t played second base, his natural position, since 2005. However, he needs to prove his versatility to the Dodgers because he is out of options. At first, he played good defense at second base, but now he has been sloppy. If he doesn’t improve quickly, I doubt he will make the team.

Before half of the Dodgers went to China, Chin-Lung Hu was playing a lot of second base. He was the Dodgers’ minor league player of the year in 2007. If Kent can’t play on opening day, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hu will be the Dodger second baseman.

With Andy LaRoache and Nomar Garciaparra out, the Dodgers have been looking for a third baseman. At first, people thought the injury to Garciaparra wasn’t serious. He hasn’t played for a week. Because the area that the ball struck Garciaparra’s wrist was close to where he had surgery in 2001, Garciaparra was worried. The swelling hasn’t subsided. Blake DeWitt, a kid from Double-A, has impressed both offensively and defensively at third base. If Garciaparra can’t play on opening day, I wouldn’t be surprised if DeWitt will be the opening day third baseman.

With two weeks to go before opening day, I would like to see more wins and fewer errors. Go Dodgers!