Spring Training 2010 Recap

I had originally intended to post daily updates from my trip to Arizona this weekend, but Internet services were not free in our hotel. Ridiculous. Anyways, here are some observations from the weekend, where I attended four games:

Game 1: Padres 9, Dodgers 4
In a game I have come to call the McDonald Meltdown, the Dodgers were embarrassed by the Padres in the late innings of Friday night's game. Neither starting pitcher looked sharp, with Chris Young and Hiroki Kuroda both surrendering three earned runs in just four innings of work. The bullpen was the difference in the game - the Padres were putting up mostly zeroes, while James McDonald decided to retreat into his minor league shell as he was being walloped for six runs in a little over an inning to take the loss. Hong Chih Kuo pitched a perfect inning of relief, which is good news after his slow start last season, and Matt Kemp was hitting the ball hard. Casey Blake looked lost at the plate, making me wonder if his age is starting to catch up with him. Will Venable hit a monster home run off of Kuroda that must have traveled close to 450 feet. But an interesting thought here: the Dodgers had three sacrifice hits in this game, including a suicide squeeze in the 7th inning that temporarily put them ahead. Are we to see more small ball from the Boys in Blue this year? Only one of those sacrifices came from a pitcher...

Game 2: Padres 4, White Sox 1
Padres' starter Matt Latos was brilliant in this one, allowing just a run on two hits in five innings. The bullpen proceeded to shut the door, as the White Sox offense struggled to find a rhythm, even with most of their starters in the lineup. I like the White Sox in the AL Central this year, but their offense will have to click better than it did Saturday for them to win the division. Mark Buehrle worked fast and looked solid, but took the loss after giving up two runs in six innings.

Game 3: Padres 5, Dodgers 1
The Dodgers' embarrassment in this game came in the form of committing as many errors (3) as they had hits and runs combined (one run, two hits). Again, Padre starting pitching was stellar, as Wade LeBlanc (didn't we shell this kid in the regular season?) allowed only a solo home run to Ronnie Belliard. The Dodger offense was anemic, but the Padres' lineup featured some young players that looked pretty good. Outfielder Kyle Blanks went 4-4 in this game and outfielder Chris Denorfia was flying all over the place, both in the field and on the basepaths. Adrian Gonzalez was Adrian Gonzalez, although no power surge for him this weekend.

Game 4: Padres 14, Rangers 5
The Padres' minor leaguers continued to step up in this one. Denorfia brought the house down with his near-cycle, and the bench put together an eight-run seventh inning to seal the deal. Of course, this means Ranger pitching doesn't seem to be making the progress necessary to win the AL West, but that's nothing new. It's a shame too, because their lineup can score with anybody. Michael Young is a great hitter, and Nelson Cruz hit a towering home run in this game that left no doubt he can fill the cleanup role in the Texas batting order. The Rangers scored five runs in the third to open the scoring, but didn't score again as the Padres piled up the runs on both Rich Harden and the bullpen. Journeyman Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a three-run blast that sent Harden packing in the fourth - needless to say, I was not impressed with Harden's performance. He needs to be far better than what he was on Sunday if this Ranger team is to compete for the division this season.

So how 'bout them Padres? 4-0 over the weekend, which greatly surprised me. Yes, it's spring training, but they won all four games with their opponents playing most of their regulars. If their pitching holds up, they may actually surprise in the NL West. But with trade rumors swirling around Adrian Gonzalez, the future may not look as bright as the weekend suggested.

With two weeks to go before opening day, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered with respect to the Dodgers - who will be their fifth starter? Can Manny get back to being Manny (he wasn't much of himself this weekend)? Can the bullpen flex its muscles and be effective in the late innings? Can Rafael Furcal be the catalyst at the top of the lineup? These are questions that, in my opinion, should have already been answered by now. But hey, it's the Dodgers, and they're in Hollywood. Who wouldn't expect a little preseason drama?