Big man, big pictures

Way to get a lead, blow it, then come back and take it again. Clutch hitting by Ethier and Kent, once again.

The West is not a disappointment, because the D'backs are simply beating the tar out of everyone, and the west is who they've been playing. They'll come back to earth, and all of a sudden the Dodgers are at .500. The Rockies will play better soon, though I'm not sure the Padres will. They look very old, especially Hoffman. And you can forget about the Giants. Still, I foresee the Dodgers and the D'backs in a tight race to the finish, with the Rockies challenging the second place team for the wild card.

Now that the D'Rays are simply the Rays, can we call the D'Backs just the Backs? But I D'gress.

Sabathia is a proven #1 starter, something the Dodgers don't have. If they go into the playoffs against Webb, Zambrano, Santana, or Peavy (maybe a miracle occurs) I don't have high hopes for Penny or Lowe or Billz. They might even think about tanking the first game to line up Penny against the #2 and Lowe against the #3. Anyway, it's all just speculation for now. But definitely something to keep in mind. Sabathia v. Zambrano? Exciting. Sabathia v. Santana? Also cool.

I don't expect that the D-Backs will continue at a .700 pace, and the Dodgers are certainly better than a .500 team. That said, the D-Backs look like a formidable team that will continue to play well all year, but like any team, they will have slumps. I expect the race will be between the Dodgers and the D-Backs, with the rest of the division bringing up the rear (I'm not sure that the Rockies have the pitching to make a serious run). I also expect that the Dodgers and D-Backs will both be prime contenders for the wildcard.

Although the D-Backs lost tonight, their rookie pitching phenom Max Scherzer, had quite a debut.

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080429&content_id=2609148&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari

He comes with a reputation as being a dominant relief pitcher, and he certainly lived up to that tonight. Scherzer was the D-Back's #1 pick in 2006 (11th overall), and began as a starter, and had only modest success in that role. However, since being moved to the bullpen late last year, he has been absolutley dominant, including a lights out performance in the Arizona Fall League. If he's as good as advertised (and he seemed so tonight), the D-Backs will definitely be a more formidable team.

I know the Dodgers have Kershaw, but as dominant as he appears to be, he is almost 4 years younger than Scherzer, and will likely have to handled with a lot more care (e.g., limited innings and pitches).

I believe that the Dodgers will continue to hit, but the pitching depth has me worried. Loaiza is simply not the answer in the 5th spot, and neither is Park. Hopefully, Kershaw will eventually be able to fill that spot. And although I believe that Billingsley could come around with his command, and actually last 6-7 innings per start, I wouldn't mind seeing him moved to the bullpen, where he was dominant last year, and could be so again this year. If anything, he throws harder when working short stints out of the pen. For that to happen, the Dodgers would either have to acquire a starting pitcher or tap someone like McDonald, Meloan, etc. out of their farm system (assuming Loaiza's spot in the rotation is filled by Kershaw).

It's a long season, and lots can happen between now and September. In short, I expect the Dodgers will be in the race until the end, provided that we see upgrades to the pitching staff.

Will somebody please fire Steiner and Monday?

Dalegribel,

I agree 100% with all that you say. Especially how atrocious the Madres announcers can be! If you can imagine this: Grant & Vassgersian are clearly awful, but their radio announcer, Ted Leitner, is 1,000,000,000 times worse with the same intelligence level as a mentally-disabled rock...