LOS ANGELES (AP) -Joe Torre is used to making the playoffs. The Los Angeles Dodgers are not.
So while his new team’s postseason prospects appeared much brighter at the start of spring training than they do now, the 67-year-old Torre would seem to be the ideal leader of a club with several uncertainties.
“When you play 162 games, you realize there are going to be issues,” Torre said early in camp.
Little did he know he’d have to deal with so many before managing his first regular-season game Monday against the San Francisco Giants.
It’s possible second baseman Jeff Kent (hamstring injury) and third baseman Nomar Garciaparra (broken bone in his right hand) won’t be available to start the season. Neither has played in an exhibition game since early March.
Andy LaRoche, who entered spring training in competition with Garciaparra for the third base job, tore a ligament in his right thumb March 7 and won’t return before mid-May. And Tony Abreu, another possibility, has a strained right groin that will keep out him of action for at least two weeks.
Possible fill-ins at second and third include 24-year-old Chin-Lung Hu, who made his big-league debut late last season when he played in 12 games for the Dodgers, and 22-year-old Blake DeWitt, who hasn’t played above Double-A. Veteran backup Ramon Martinez is another option.
There are pitching concerns as well.
Takashi Saito, one of baseball’s best closers, has experienced tightness in his left buttock recently after sitting out two weeks earlier this spring with a sore right calf.
“There’s no question it’s a concern because you’re this close to the end,” Torre said.
Kent is 40 and Saito 38, so age could work against them in terms of speedy recoveries.
There was cause for optimism concerning right-hander Jason Schmidt early in spring training, but his comeback from season-ending shoulder surgery last June hit a snag, and it’s uncertain when he might be ready to go.
“Usually you make your own luck,” Torre said. “The good luck is staying healthy.”
At least the current issues Torre faces involve on-the-field business. Last season, as the Dodgers were in the midst of losing 11 of their last 14 games to fall out of postseason contention, friction arose between some of the veterans and younger players.
“He’s calm, he might give us what we need,” catcher Russell Martin said.
The Yankees reached the postseason in each of Torre’s 12 years as their manager, winning the World Series in four of his first five seasons. But he has said repeatedly this spring that the pressure increased significantly after the Boston Red Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat New York in the 2004 AL championship series and went on to win their first World Series title in 86 years.
Torre finally left last fall, turning down an incentive-laden, one-year contract he called an insult because the last thing he needed was financial motivation to win, and signed a $13 million, three-year deal with the Dodgers two weeks later.
Torre’s first 14 seasons as a manager were nothing special – his teams didn’t win a single playoff game. The last 12 were so successful he now holds the big league record for postseason victories with 76.
Instead of wearing Yankees pinstripes, he’s in Dodger blue with his familiar No. 6.
“It didn’t take me long to feel comfortable, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “The last three years weren’t as comfortable.”
As far as managing without the designated hitter for the first time since he was fired by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1995, Torre said: “I’ll have to have somebody keep poking me all the time that I’ve got a pitcher who’s supposed to hit, or attempt to hit, or whatever. Not that managing in the American League is easy, but there’s more you have to be aware of in the National League.”
Issues aside, the Dodgers have talent, and despite playing in the NL West, one of baseball’s toughest divisions, they appear to have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs for just the fifth time since winning the 1988 World Series – the last time they won a postseason series.
“Our team goal is always going to be the same – it’s to be competitive for six months and get in the playoffs,” said right-hander Derek Lowe, who won the final game of each postseason series for the Red Sox in 2004 and joined the Dodgers the following year.
Torre said he’s never been involved with an organization that has so many capable young players.
Among the youthful standouts are 23-year-old right-hander Chad Billingsley, a 12-game winner last season; the 25-year-old Martin, an All-Star last year in his first full big league season; 23-year-old first baseman James Loney, who hit .331 in 96 games last year; 23-year-old outfielder Matt Kemp, and 25-year-old outfielder Andre Ethier.
Billingsley will be part of a rotation led by 16-game winner Brad Penny, Lowe and former Japanese Central League star Hiroki Kuroda. With Schmidt sidelined, Esteban Loaiza and Chan Ho Park competed for the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
Another youngster, 20-year-old left-hander Clayton Kershaw, was sensational this spring, but will probably begin the season in the minors, although Torre left the door open to an early recall.
Ten-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones was brought in to play center field and add much-needed pop to a team that hit only 129 homers last year to rank 15th in the NL.
A month ago, it appeared Juan Pierre would bat leadoff and play left field, Kemp would be in right and Ethier would mostly come off the bench. But Ethier has had a much better spring than Pierre, who signed a five-year, $44 million contract before last season.
“I think it’s going to be my toughest decision,” Torre said of the outfield situation. “We all have to keep in mind with these four guys that they’re very talented. Just because you see a lineup opening day doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. You have four quality, gifted people and it’s interesting because they all have different qualities.”
Add A Comment