The Clemens - Pettitte Lovefest Pitcher Preview: LA Dodgers

The injury-plagued starters of last year are gone. The hopeful Los Angeles Dodgers look to rebound this season with a much steadier core of starters.

Forget about the 2387425 different starters the Dodgers used last year, with half of them getting injured and half just sucked(Randy Wolf, David Wells, Brett Tomko, Mark Hendrickson, Jason Schmidt, Brad Penny, Derek Lowe.......the list goes on). Luckily, this will be a new year and the Dodgers hope that their aces will continue to be aces, their aces of yesteryear will once again be aces, and their aces of tomorrowland will live up to expectations.

Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Esteban Loaiza, Jason Schmidt

If I can count correctly, I believe that there are 6 people up there, and normally starting rotations are 5. But that's how good and deep the Dodgers will be if they can all stay healthy and pitch like they're supposed to. Led by Penny, the big, strong, powerful, and dominant ace of the staff who pitched through a lower ab injury and still finished with a 16-4 record--back to back 16-win seasons. Talk about consistency. Now, Lowe had a sub-par season with a 12-14 record. Look for him to rebound to the ace he once was without injuries. Billingsley, the X-factor, filled Jason Schmidt's role wonderfully last season, going 12-5. He's still young, so it's scary to think of the pitcher he will become in the next couple of years. Kuroda better live up to expectations, getting paid $35.3 million to be a 4th starter. Not much to say, we just have to wait and see. Loaiza and Schmidt are both worthy of a 5th spot, if they remain healthy and pitch like they're supposed to. Think about it, a guy like Loaiza and Schmidt fighting for the last spot of your starting rotation; that must say something about it.


Note to Hiroki Kuroda:
No pressure, because you have a pal in closer Takashi Saito, who filled in perfectly after the departure of Eric Gagne. However, hopefully you will not stink it up like your old pal Kazuhisa Ishii, who is now back in Japan after 4 years in the MLB. Saito followed Gagne's footsteps, but that doesn't mean you should follow Ishii's.

P.S. Remember good ol' Chan Ho Park, who started his career with the Dodgers? Well, he's back where it all started to try and revive his 13-year career. Now, Chan Ho, you're here to pitch a baseball in a baseball park. That is why you're Chan Ho Park. So don't do any more of your Chan Ho Karate Kicks.

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