Dodgers Diaries

ESPN’s Tony Jackson reports that Carlos Monasterios may have made his last start for a while, what with a few off days coming up and Vicente Padilla returning from the disabled list June 18.

I know this will never happen, since Padilla is a veteran making millions, but in my book, he has to earn his way back into the rotation. Ely and Monasterios have both proven their mettle, and need to falter before either one of them is shuttled off to the bullpen. Padilla wasn’t quite as bad as his 6.65 ERA would indicate. He allowed 7 earned runs in his opening day disaster against Pittsburgh and four more in four innings against Florida a week later, but held the Giants and the Reds to 3 and 2 earned runs in 7 and 6 innings respectively.

The bigger difference between the two rookies and the veteran Padilla is in salary: Padilla is the Dodgers’ second highest-paid pitcher, at $4.025 million. Monasterios is making 1/10 of that, and Ely is making a little over the major league minimum.

Then again, who knows who will be injured a week from now.

-- JOHN ROSENTHAL