Dodgers Diaries

Joe Torre made an unexpected move by naming Clayton Kershaw his Game 1 starter. But if you factor in a desire to have Vicente Padilla start at home, the choice isn’t that surprising after all. Given the choice of moving one of his lefties to the road, Torre opted for the more seasoned Wolf, who spent the first eight years of his career in the city of brotherly love and is almost assuredly itching to show the Philly faithful what he has left in the tank.

The rest of the roster filled out almost in lockstep, with the same 11 pitchers as in the NLDS except for Kuroda replacing Garland. The hitters include the usual starting eight, plus Belliard (or Hudson if you consider Belliard the new starting 2B), Castro, Ausmus, Pierre, Loretta and Thome. Sorry Jon, but you didn’t see any action in the NLDS, and you definitely won’t in this series. Then again, neither did Chad Billingsley, who started the season as the Dodgers’ ace. Baseball is a funny game.

With the Phillies’ abundance of left-handed pitching, it would have been nice to add a right-handed bat to the bench, especially one that could play the outfield as a defensive replacement for Manny Ramirez in the late innings. Problem is the Dodgers don’t have a player like that in their system. Xavier Paul is probably their best outfielder not in the starting lineup, but he too is a lefty. The only right-handed bat in the system is Jason Repko, known more for his glove. And after Mark Loretta’s heroics against St. Louis, there’s no way the Dodgers were going to bump him from the roster.

With Jim Thome taking up two roster spots (one for himself and one for somebody to run for him should he reach base), the Dodgers’ bench is going to be short again. After Thome and Pierre pinch-hit, there isn’t much pop on the pine. Unlike the pitching staff, where the strength is in the late innings, the Dodgers' offensive attack is going to have to come from the front lines.

--- JOHN ROSENTHAL