Dustin May 2018 Bowman Paper Prospect Rookie Auto, Slabbed a PSA 9

A few months back I went to a card show. It was put on by the same folks who held the one I recently recapped here. I bought mostly non-sports items my first go-around but this was my big sports grab (before it got slabbed).

I couldn't resist this Dustin May 2018 Bowman Paper auto for $5, originally marked $7 before my expert negotiating skills kicked in. May showed flashes of promise and excellent stuff in his limited time in the bigs this year, and hopefully he can be a more permanent fixture in the Dodger rotation next year. A little white on the bottom left corner accounts for the PSA 9 grade.

Zach Lee's Atrocious Autograph Is Perhaps The Worst Signature Ever.

One of the worst, without question. But for under four clams, I bit. It was a last second decision.

He is the Dodgers' top pitching prospect, after all. And it's only my second signature of the young righty. Second of a handful, I hope.

Cause You Win Some and Lose Some (Contests), Sandra Bullock: A Few Thank Yous.

Some thank yous are in order. First up, Derek from Tomahawk Chopping - Cardboard & More! held a contest, and I was one of a number of winners. My prize is the massively sweet die-cut Shawn Green jersey relic below. The design of this 2002 Fleer Focus Kings of Swing relic is just amazing. Many thanks Derek (and many more to follow)!

Next, Brian from 30-Year-Old Cardboard held a contest, and the randomizer spit my name out. My prize is the below relic. Thanks for the great contests and the awesome prize Brian!

Next up, my third contest success from the great Andrew over at Sports Card Info. He holds at least a contest a week, and I was fortunate enough to pick up this sweet on-card auto of Flyers' defenseman Erik Gustafsson. His signature reminds me somewhat of the John Hancock of former Flyer, current Duck, and Plaschke favorite Luca Sbisa. Gracias Andrew!

Continuing on, another contest win over at Jaybarkerfan's Junk netted me the below graded rookie card. Jon, Colbey, any interest? Thanks as always for your generosity Wes!

Penultimately, Sam over at The Daily Dimwit held a sly contest that involved reading an entire post of his. I did, and was the first to correctly answer a trivia question which asked how many no-hitters Nolan Ryan threw in his career. My prize is a partial set of 2012 Topps Prime 9 Redemptions. I don't have nearly enough Babe Ruth cards, so the Great Bambino is staying with me. The rest are up for grabs though (on hold temporarily, however, as I'm about to offer them to someone). Thanks Sam!

And finally, the aforementioned Derek sent me a few singles simply because he's a generous dude. No contest involved with this package of cards. First up, a new Kemp and a new Kershaw; it marks my first 2012 card for Kemp, and second for Kershaw.

Also included in the bubbler was a smattering of player collection cards, from Long Beach State Dirtbags to a Chrome J-Hey to a Cole Hamels. Man, Hamels on the Dodgers next year would be sweet. Kershaw, Cole, and Bills. What a dreamy rotation that would be....

Thanks again to all of the above-listed great bloggers!

Trade With DodgerBobble: A Rubby De La Rosa Auto Classes Up The Joint.

I completed my second trade with my good buddy DodgerBobble, who runs your one-stop shop for all of your bobblehead news. I sent DB a Ramon Troncoso auto and one of my Matt Kemp '08 Ginter relics, as well as some good old fashioned randomness. The prize of the deal for me was one of a handful of Rubby De La Rosa rookie signatures DB had plucked from eBay:

Sick. De La Rosa is recovering from Tommy John surgery, but his future in the organization is bright. Which of course means we must keep Ned Colletti away from him at all costs.

Next up, a new Clayton Kershaw, the base version /799 from 2011 Topps Tier One. I'd love to one day get my hands on a Kershaw auto, as well as a Kemp auto, from Tier One. Love the look of them, but they're well out of my price range at the moment.

And finally, a few items of note. First, a new Russ Martin. National Chicle is ridiculously aesthetically-appealing. My UCLA and Long Beach State PCs were helped with the #'d XFractor Weaver, Chicle Longo, and a not scanned Mojo Drew card. Any LT is a good LT in my book. I love the 1989 Topps wrapper, a set from the the year of my birth - and one of the first sets I put together when I reentered the hobby - featuring one of my favorite Topps designs.

Thanks for the great cardboard swap DB!

My Chad Billingsley PC

I'm an unabashed Chad Billingsley fan. I had some time and finally decided to scan the autos and relics of Bills I have in my collection, as well as a pair of rookies.

The first of my rookie autographs, and I'd love to one day put together this rainbow.

The final of my Bills' rookie autos, and I was stoked to land all three for good deals. The fact that two of these rookie sigs are on-card is just fantastic. Can't beat on-card, I sometimes say.

The rest of my Defiance, Ohio signatures. Now, we venture into relics territory.

And finally, the RCs.

I'm expecting a rebound from Bills in 2012, and I'm more than happy to have him as the Dodgers' # 2 starter. I have not added anything new to my Bills PC - in terms of autos or relics - in quite some time, so a new addition is certainly in order. Off to eBay!

Andre Ethier, Vicente Padilla, George Sherrill, & Dodger Rotation News

Andre Ethier has been rehabbing his broken pinkie, and is on track to return Monday.

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Carlos Monasterios will start Wednesday.

Charlie Haeger is rehabbing and though he was scheduled to return this week and start Tuesday, his foot problem has not subsided, and when he returns is unknown. From the above article:

"Haeger's foot problem hasn't gone away. We saw him limping on the video [from a Saturday appearance]," said manager Joe Torre. "We're going to just put him off."

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George Sherrill appears to be nearing a return from his "back injury", and once he's made a reported 4 rehab appearances, he'll be back once his 15-day purgatory has ended.

"I felt my timing was a lot better," Sherrill said. "I still feel a little something in the back, but it doesn't grab at all. If they want me to go somewhere, I'll go. I know they want me to be with [Triple-A Albuquerque pitching coach Jim] Slaton, but they're on the road."

Vicente Padilla is on track to return in the middle of June.

"He didn't like his command, the sinker wasn't real good, but he threw breaking balls and splits," pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "He'll take two days off, throw a bullpen at home and we'll look at a rehab start at San Bernardino Thursday. He'll probably need three of those."

Padilla also found himself in some hot water in Colorado, but it appears that nothing will come of that. Vin Scully Is My Homeboy has all of your Padilla news, as always.

Clayton Kershaw's Walks Not A Concern, Says Baseball History

Clayton Kershaw, since day one of his major league career, has been criticized for his bouts of wildness and frequent issuance of walks to all comers, even, on occasion, the opposing pitcher. Now, I'm sure Clayton would be the first one to admit he needs to cut down on his walks, and that when he loses command, he really loses it.

However, I've always felt this criticism was overstated and misplaced, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, and this can't be emphasized enough, Clayton Kershaw is just 22 years old. Let's repeat that: 22 YEARS OLD. Most 22-year-olds who play baseball for a living, or aspire to, are playing, at that young age, in the minor leagues or college.

Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, is in the bigs, and has been since 2008, when he was only 20 years old. That in and of itself is an incredible achievement, and the fact he's had so much success and shown just how flat-out dominant he can be when he's on, and how mystifyingly amazing he'll be when he reaches his prime, at such a young age, is just icing on the cake. Let's not forget that Clayton did not get any pitching in at the college level, as he signed straight out of high school, and only amassed 220.1 innings over parts of 3 minor league seasons.

We've all heard the comparisons made between Kershaw and other pitchers, past and present, as is the case when any high-profile prospect, be he a position player or pitcher, hits the scene after years and years of hype and speculation. With Kershaw, the first pitcher he is always compared to is fellow lefty and Dodger great Sandy Koufax. Many have brushed the comparison off as premature, others as too far-fetched, and others simply due to the notion that young players must pay their dues before any accolades or comparisons can be heaped upon them.

Will Clayton Kershaw become Sandy Koufax? No one can say for sure one way or the other, but the practice of comparing young players to their predecessors, even all-time great talents and players, is, to me, more than fair, and an obvious part of the player-development process. As fans, we want to know the talent a player possesses, the skill set he works with. Saying that a player is similar to another is a great way to let us know what we can expect from a player if he were to reach his potential. Just knowing how much potential a player has, what the outer reaches of his future might hold, is a great thing from where I stand.

With that said, I decided to take a look at Clayton and some comparables, looking specifically at their strikeout and walk numbers. I chose the pitchers based on a few simple criteria: pitchers Kershaw's been compared to/linked with before; were they great, are they great, can they be great; pitchers with high strikeout and walk totals at some point in their career.

Here are the walk totals for 9 pitchers I looked at, with Kershaw included. The number listed is the highest amount of walks issued in one season. Intentional walks are included in the totals, and the age in which they occurred is in parentheses.

Walk Totals

Nolan Ryan (30)	204
Randy Johnson (27)	152
Roger Clemens (33)	106
Sandy Koufax (22)	105
Ubaldo Jimenez (24)	103
Bert Blyleven (36)	101
Don Drysdale (22)	93
Clayton Kershaw (21)	91
Tim Lincecum (24)	84
Pedro Martinez (24)	70

Clayton Kershaw's highest walk total thus far is 91, which he hit in 2009. Some pitchers have control from the get-go, be it natural or a necessity (due to a lack of overpowering stuff), but the pitchers listed above have one thing in common, aside from high walk totals, be it for a season or a career: they're all considered great. Ryan, Koufax, and Drysdale are all in the Hall Of Fame. Martinez and Johnson will be in the HOF, and Clemens may not make it for PED reasons, though he would get my vote, and his numbers are clearly hall-worthy. Blyleven should be in the Hall Of Fame; he should have been inducted long, long ago. Lincecum has started his career off on a Hall Of Fame path, and Jimenez has a great and good season under his belt, on top of starting this season off strong.

Look at those walk totals again though. So many stand out like sore thumbs, especially considering the age at which they were registered. Blyleven was out of his prime, Clemens was just leaving his prime years, Ryan was in the middle of his prime, and Johnson was just entering his. Koufax, Martinez, Lincecum, Drysdale, and Jimenez were all 24 or younger when they issued their personal-high number of free passes.

Only Koufax, Drysdale, and Blyleven had significant stints in the bigs at 20 or younger, when Kershaw debuted (Ryan pitched 3 innings at 19, then spent a year in the minors before returning, and Pedro pitched 8 innings at 20).

Looking at their careers further, we find some startling things:

• Nolan Ryan had 2 seasons of 200 or more walks, and 11 seasons of 100 or more walks, including 9 straight seasons from 1971-1979 (ages 24-32). He also had another 4 seasons of 90 or more walks.
• Randy Johnson, during his age 26, 27, and 28 seasons, had walk totals of 120, 152, and 144. He had another 3 seasons with 90 or more walks.
• Sandy Koufax had 4 straight seasons of 90 or more walks, between the ages of 22 and 25, with totals of 105, 92, 100, and 96 walks.
• Bert Blyleven had 4 seasons of 80 or more walks.
• Roger Clemens had 6 seasons with 80 or more walks, including 3 straight from ages 35 to 37.
• Don Drysdale had 5 seasons of 70 or more walks, all consecutive and between the ages of 21 and 25.
• Ubaldo Jimenez's walk totals the last two years: 103, 85.
  

Clearly control problems are not an automatic termination of future greatness, and even a high number of walks at an advanced age, baseball-wise, doesn't mean the end of the world. Next, the strikeouts per 9 innings of each of the 9 pitchers, as well as Clayton:

K/9 IP, Career Total

Randy Johnson	10.6 K/9 IP
Tim Lincecum	10.2 K/9 IP
Pedro Martinez	10.0 K/9 IP
Nolan Ryan	9.5 K/9 IP
Clayton Kershaw	9.3 K/9 IP
Sandy Koufax	9.3 K/9 IP
Roger Clemens	8.6 K/9 IP
Ubaldo Jimenez	7.9 K/9 IP
Bert Blyleven	6.7 K/9 IP
Don Drysdale	6.5 K/9 IP

Pitchers who strike out a lot of hitters will usually walk more than the average pitcher will, and with time, refinement of mechanics, consistency in delivery, and learning of the strike zone and major league hitters, improvement in walks allowed is the goal, and the great pitchers can achieve this, though as we've already seen, success can be had when walk totals remain high.

One final chart to complete the trifecta, walks per 9 innings pitched:

BB/9 IP, Career Total

Don Drysdale	2.2 BB/9 IP
Pedro Martinez	2.4 BB/9 IP
Bert Blyleven	2.4 BB/9 IP
Roger Clemens	2.9 BB/9 IP
Sandy Koufax	3.2 BB/9 IP
Tim Lincecum	3.2 BB/9 IP
Randy Johnson	3.3 BB/9 IP
Ubaldo Jimenez	4.0 BB/9 IP
Nolan Ryan	4.7 BB/9 IP
Clayton Kershaw	4.7 BB/9 IP

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: yes, Kershaw's walk totals are detrimental to pitching consistently well, and certainly can be a cause for concern. But I'm not concerned, because he's 22, has already had a lot of major league success (certainly for a young man of his age), and has an amazing repertoire of pitches and an ungodly amount of talent to rely on. If he continues to walk 80+ batters in a season, he'll make things extremely difficult on himself, but as the above tables of statistics prove, that doesn't inherently mean he can't have success, and a lot of it, at the same time.

The 9 pitchers above being compared to young Kershaw all have had or appear to be poised to have long and fruitful careers. Many have improved upon their wildness as they have progressed and aged, and even those who didn't were able to miss enough bats and get enough outs to succeed. Again, just because it worked out well for them doesn't automatically mean it will work out in Kershaw's situation, but it's certainly comforting to see historical proof that pitchers have had success and improved their control, and that the road ahead for a 22-year-old talent like Clayton Kershaw is not doomed already, like many Dodgers fans and others would have you believe.

Clayton Kershaw is not unique in his wild tendencies. Great talents, great pitchers, and even Hall Of Fame pitchers have experienced what Kershaw has in the past, and in the end, I've always been a firm believer that more often than not, talent wins out.

Call me if he's walking 200 or more in a season, or over 100 into his 30s. We'll talk then.

So, what are your thoughts on Kershaw's walk totals and future? Comment away, and take a gander at the poll below. Vote, it's your civic duty. Or so I've been told.

How Concerned Are You About Clayton Kershaw's Walks?

Dodgers Links On A Sunday Night

Andre Ethier had a splint placed on his fractured right pinkie. He'll try to swing a bat, but if I were a guessing man, I think a DL stint is still more likely than not. [Ethier Has Splint Placed On Broken Finger]

"We're hoping he's able to function, but we'll see," Torre said before the exam. "It's sore today. The trainers have been in touch."

"Over the next couple days, we'll see if there's a comfort level for him. We'll give him a day or two to let the soreness out and see what he can do with it and decide if it's enough. The last thing we want is to have him go out and do something and get into bad habits and wind up with a bad situation."

Torre related how difficult it is for a hitter to swing a bat with a broken finger, even a pinkie like the right one Ethier broke Saturday night in batting practice. Ethier explained that the finger "contorted" under the knob of the bat during a swing and the pressure of the bat cracked the first knuckle.

Ramon Ortiz will get another start. He'll take the mound on Wednesday. OY. VEY. The moral of this story, again, is that being a veteran means your leash is ridiculously long with the Dodgers. Struggle n the majors as a veteran and you get shot after shot, but prove things in the bigs, as James McDonald and Scott Elbert have done in varying sample sizes, then struggle a bit in the minors, and you're doomed to minor league servitude. [Dodgers To Give Ortiz Second Start]

"Really, there's nobody other than him," said Torre. "Carlos Monasterios [who also made a spot start May 1] was under consideration. Probably because Ortiz is the most experienced guy. We started Monasterios one time and had Ortiz behind him. When [Ortiz] gave us 80-plus pitches [last Saturday], we had a better feel for what we'd get out of him."

Charlie Haeger made a rehab start for Class A Inland Empire on Saturday, going five solid innings. [Haeger Goes 5 Innings In Rehab Start]

He will need several bullpen sessions and at least three Minor League rehab starts before he returns, which manager Joe Torre said remains some time in July.

A great story about Dodger farmhands lending a helping hand to a downed motorcyclist. The minor leaguers included Rafael Ynoa and Elisaul Pimental. [Dodgers Farmhands Assist Motorcyclist]

Rafael Furcal Progressing, John Ely Staying

Rafael Furcal went 0-2 with a walk in consecutive rehab appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday. Barring a setback, he'll be back Friday.

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John Ely will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Putting up a 13:0 K:BB mark over 2 starts and 12.2 innings will do that for you.

"He's one of our starters right now," Torre said after Ely pitched six-plus innings. "[Vicente] Padilla is more than a month away. I don't see where he's [Ely] in any danger."

"His command has been terrific," said Torre. "He makes it look -- I don't want to say easy -- but simple. And that's the thing that's been escaping our club -- getting deep into the game. He's got us to the seventh inning each time."

Rafael Furcal, Charlie Haeger, and John Ely Updates

Rafael Furcal is ready to go on a rehab assignment. Hurry back Raffy, hurry back. The team hopes to have him back Friday.

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As obvious as it was becoming by the day, the Dodgers finally placed a pitcher on the DL in order to recall John Ely in time to start Tuesday in Arizona. The pitcher is Charlie Haeger, the injury is plantar fasciitis, the foot injured is his right.

The same article mentions Ramon Ortiz will almost certainly start Friday.

George Sherrill and Dodger Rotation News

George Sherrill has been watching video of Billy Wagner to try and fix his problems.

"I was telling some of the guys, thank God the Red Sox and Yankees went to a rain delay and [Billy] Wagner pitched," Sherrill said. "I've always been told I'm close to how he pitched."

"All the other stuff I've been doing didn't even matter," Sherrill said. "Everything I've done all season, didn't matter."

Too bad Sherrill doesn't come close to Wagner's past excellence or his current usefulness. And last time I checked, baseball doesn't do do-overs, so Sherrill's awfulness has mattered.

And counted.

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Vicente Padilla won't be back until June at the earliest as he works his way back from a forearm injury, which we already knew from previous reports.

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Charlie Haeger won't make the trip to Arizona, and is apparently dealing with a heel injury. All of this is code, and obvious code at that, for "DL stint" to allow for John Ely's recall after his recent and uncalled for demotion. Not that Haeger might not be injured, but someone was going to be DL'd in all likelihood. At least DL'ing Haeger allows them to keep him and not expose him to waivers, which would have been the case had they attempted to send him down to AAA.

Haeger said Sunday that his right heel has been bothering him and that he has been receiving treatment for it. He said he expects to see a doctor on Monday locally.

"I think we're going to go see a doctor this week and make sure everything's OK with the bone and everything structurally down there," said Haeger, who lasted just five batters in a start against the Rockies on Saturday.

A few minutes before Haeger spoke, manager Joe Torre said he was unsure whether Haeger would travel. Haeger did not speak of any physical problems until Sunday, saying he was fine after Saturday's start.

John Ely Back To AAA, Ramon Ortiz Lucky To Be A Veteran

The Dodgers activated Jeff Weaver prior to Friday's game, and in order to do so had to clear a spot on the 25-man roster. The obvious guy to remove would be Ramon Ortiz, he of the general suckiness and awful pitching. Instead, they opted to send John Ely back down to AAA.

I, along with pretty much every other Dodger fan, saw this one coming. Most of us hoped differently, but knew that unless the Dodgers fundamentally change their approach to roster management, it was going to come to this.

Now I don't have a problem if the Dodgers feel AAA is the best spot for Ely for the time being. Ely isn't an elite prospect and doesn't have tremendous stuff, but I think if he reaches his ceiling he can be a solid contributor in the back end of the rotation, and if he were to surpass his ceiling, could potentially be a serviceable fringe Number 3 starter.

John Ely had minor league options left, and could be sent down without being exposed to waivers; Ramon Ortiz could not, and could be claimed if the club tried to send him down. Would he have been claimed? I wouldn't if the decision were mine, but he probably could have found work or at least the opportunity of work elsewhere. That being said, the Dodgers were actually scared to lose him, and thus kept him on the 25-man roster.

Let me repeat that: the Dodgers fear that without Ramon Ortiz pitching for them, the bullpen would suffer, and consequently the team would suffer. Life without Ramon Ortiz would be worse in the eyes of Dodgers brass with a say in this decision.

Ely could very well be recalled for Tuesday's game, but only if a pitcher is DL'd before then, and after Charlie Haeger's "start" Saturday and George Sherrill being George Sherrill, that seems more and more likely by the second.

Rafael Furcal, Dodger Rotation Updates

John Ely gets himself another start, this one coming this Thursday.

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Rafael Furcal will apparently hit the DL after all, and unfortunately, it's looking more and more likely it won't be Chin-lung Hu, excellent defender, taking his spot. Instead, Nick Green, awful defender, will get the call. Neither can hit a lick, but Green is a veteran! Oooh, veterans, so sexy and productive.

That last line is a direct quote from Joe Torre and Ned Colletti. At least I imagine that's what they would say.

Rafael Furcal & Carlos Monasterios Updates

Rafael Furcal will most likely not land on the DL with his hamstring injury. Which is excellent, because he had been playing and running well, and he's not Jamey Carroll. That last part can't be stressed enough.

An MRI on Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal's left hamstring revealed a "little strain," according to manager Joe Torre, who added that "it doesn't look like a DL thing."

Furcal suffered the injury trying to beat out a double-play grounder in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader.

Torre said Furcal would be examined by team Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Thursday, when it will be decided if he should receive a platelet-rich plasma injection to promote healing.

Furcal did receive the injection.

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Carlos Monasterios will make his first big league start Saturday against the Pirates. I had not anticipated Monasterios would get real consideration, but I'm glad he's getting the spot start, though his long-term future is strictly as a reliever.

Manager Joe Torre, said he hoped Monasterios could throw 70 to 75 pitches. If Monasterios struggles, Ramon Ortiz (0-1, 6.39), who was also a candidate to start the game, could work in long relief.

"I just told him, the last couple times you were out there you were free and easy, just go as hard as you can and then we'll come get you depending on pitch count," Torre said. "A lot of it's going to depend on how he starts out. If he runs counts up in the first couple innings, we may have to go get him earlier than anticipated."

Torre said he has not made a decision on who the team's fifth starter will be going forward -- Charlie Haeger, Monasterios or otherwise. The Dodgers can reset their rotation with an off-day Monday after a four-game series with Pittsburgh.

"I'll let you know when the time comes," Torre said.

Vicente Padilla & John Ely

Vicente Padilla has been told to not throw for the next 7-10 days, as he recuperates from an irritated nerve in his right forearm.

"We'll have to wait a while before he throws," said Torre. "Possibly a week to 10 days. We have to let it quiet down and go from there. It needs to be paid attention to. We're not certain it's going to be better in a period of time. We'll have to wait and see."

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John Ely, acquired in the Juan Pierre trade and currently pitching in AAA, will more than likely start Wednesday's game against the Mets.

Monday's Dodgers Game: Rain FAIL

Today's game has been rained out, so our first doubleheader of the young season comes tomorrow. Rotation questions still to be answered by Joe Torre. Let's just remind him: NO RAMON ORTIZ.

Damn, now I have to actually do my other work. At least tonight brings us House and 24. Jack Bauer wouldn't let a little rain stop him from saving New York.

UPDATE: As I was about to post this, Dylan Hernandez Tweeted that Hiroki Kuroda will pitch Game 1 Tuesday and Charlie Haeger will in fact move up a day and pitch Game 2. Questions answered.


[Photo via The Season Experience]

Who Should Replace Vicente Padilla?

With the news that Vicente Padilla has been sidelined with a strained forearm and will hit the 15-day DL, the question becomes who will replace him in the Dodgers rotation? Who will Joe Torre and Rick Honeycutt deem worthy enough to replace our venerable Number 4 1/2 starter?

First, confirmation from the Dodgers that Padilla is Padidown (/wah wah), and a fairly troubling quote from Vicente:

"I can't even throw right now," Padilla said, declining to speculate on the severity of the injury.

The choices at their disposal, currently up in the bigs:

• Ramon Ortiz
• Jon Link, recalled to replace Padilla
• Carlos Monasterios

A few more choices, currently at AAA:

• James McDonald
• Scott Elbert
• Josh Lindblom
• Josh Towers
  

Eric Stults, where for art thou, Eric Stults? Oh yeah, you're turning Japanese. And Jeff Weaver, who would have undoubtedly gotten the spot-start, is DL'd with a bad back.

Two excellent rundowns of the options come from Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, who fears we'll see Josh Towers (who I had thankfully forgotten about), and Eric Stephen at True Blue L.A., who prognosticates Elbert could get the call. One thing that's for sure: we're all just hoping it's not Ramon Ortiz.

If I were to guess, and that's all it really is, a guess, I would rank these gentlemen, in likelihood of getting the start:

1. Ramon Ortiz
2. Josh Towers
3. Scott Elbert
4. Josh Lindblom
5. James McDonald
6. Link/Monasterios
   

Whoever it is (and there is the possibility of rain in New York or Torre deciding to run a 4-man rotation for a short amount of time) the chosen one only needs to realistically go 5 innings or into the 6th, and not get completely shellacked.

I'm fairly positive they all can do it once or twice, but I'll admit it, I'm terrified of a Ramon Ortiz start. Josh Towers doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside either, but they're both veterans, so it will more than likely be one of them getting the ball handed to them in New York next week.

Still, my vote, if I had one, would go to James McDonald. Then Scott Elbert. Somehow, I think Josh Towers would get the bronze from me. I guess it's because he kind of reminds me of Dave Bush. And that is........well, it's something alright.

Vicente Padilla To DL, Jon Link Recalled

According to a Tweet from Dylan Hernandez, Vicente Padilla is the next Dodger to spend time on the DL, as a sore forearm will shelve him for at least 15 days.

Jon Link, he of the 2 scoreless innings in his only appearance, has been recalled.

It will be interesting to see who replaces Padilla in the rotation. I fear it will be Ramon Ortiz. Aside from utilizing a 4-man rotation (unlikely), it looks like it may be Link, though he's really best suited to be a reliever.

Haeger Wins 5th Starter Spot

Charlie Haeger has been named the 5th starter.

I don't often say this, but Joe Torre, great decision there buddy.

This from Joe on the decision:

"We'll give him a shot at it," Torre said. "You have to pick somebody and of the pitchers we still have in camp, the Ortizes, I'm comfortable that if need be they can work out of the bullpen."

And Haeger's reaction to the news:

"I feel like a little kid," Haeger said. "I just feel happy. It's like a dream come true. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time and it's finally here."

"Joe expressed that he liked the way that I threw and the composure on the mound and that was enough for him," Haeger said. "Obviously, coming from a guy like Joe, as highly regarded as he is in baseball, it gave me motivation to work hard in the offseason."

"I think I threw the ball well in Spring Training and I feel good about that," Haeger said. "It makes me feel good heading into the regular season, and physically I feel ready. The next step is to have a good season and try to bring a World Series here."

Eric Stults Sold To Japan

Stults has been sold to the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. He then agreed to a 1-year deal with an option for 2011.

This is all via Stults, as the Dodgers have yet to confirm anything.

I'm surprised it took this long.

Previously in the Eric Stults to Japan Mystery Conundrum Rumor-Mongering Saga:

• Dodger Rotation Rumors (December 3rd, 2009)
• Dodgers Decline Offer For Eric Stults, Japanese Lessons Put On Hold (December 13th, 2009)
• Eric Stults May Have To Learn Japanese After All (December 26, 2009)