Dodgers Start It Off Right in Philadelphia

So we meet again... My apologies for the infrequency to what was becoming pretty frequent banter. So much was happening with this Dodgers club and so much was happening for yours truly at work, that I've just been flat out exhausted trying to keep up with it all. I know, I know... No excuses, blog like a champ.

ANYWAYS... as I'm typing the Los Angeles Kings have now taken a three games to none lead over the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup finals. While my main concern is normally getting that big trophy with all the little flags on it in Los Angeles, it will definitely be fun seeing Lord Stanley's behemoth of a silver cup hoisted around tinsel town. As a child of the 90's, the only hockey that I've ever been interested in was the roller hockey in the cultisac after gaining inspiration from Emilio Estevez and the mighty ducks on VHS. So I haven't been glued to this series but I know some are, and for that... congrats Kings fans, its allllllmost wrapped up!

Alright Dodger fans, back to what we really care about... Baseball. Or should I say injuries with a SIDE of baseball. When we last spoke, Matt Kemp was about to make his triumphant return from a hammy issue and Juan Rivera was soon to follow. Instead what we got was about 24 hours of Kemp in uniform, before an Andre Ethier double to the Left Center gap at Dodger stadium not only scored Kemp from first base, but more importantly led to the re injury of said hamstring. So now we could now be without Matt for an even LONGER stint (rumors are that he might just wait to come back after the all-star break).

Right as Matty was making his comeback, Dodger fans were feeling good about themselves with the next-best San Francisco Giants 5.5 games back. But just as quickly, Matt was gone again and the Dodgers would then lose 6 of 7 games. A stretch that saw the Dodgers, who hadn't even lost 3 in a row in 2012, lose 5 in a row. The division lead had shriveled down to 3 games going into the morning of June 4th, and with the Giants beating up on the hapless Cubs early on Monday, the Dodgers were beginning a 4-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies. With the opposing starting pitcher Worley still in the process of coming back from injury, his pitch count for game one was set at 75. The Dodgers cracked into that count early with a 2 run first inning, and 1 run 2nd.  But as Worley settled down, Kershaw's efficient start disappeared just as quickly on a Placido Polanco 2-run home run to the porch in left field.

After the Dodgers had some grief with balls and strikes called in the middle innings. Two Dodger ejections left the away team without a manager. The rest of the game was a chess match as acting manager Tim Wallach and Charlie Manuel. The tie was broken in the 9th inning as Dee Gordon's lead off triple off of Jonathan Papelbon was followed by an Elian Hererra RBI single through the left side. The Phillies manager had called the infield in to prevent the runner scoring from third, and the ball was hit hard enough between 3rd and SS to allow Gordon to walk his way to home plate. Of all the young guns who've been thrown into action in the wake of all these injuries, Hererra has done enough to keep himself in play for an everyday roll and without his mini-stint of reliability, the Dodgers might have given up their division lead altogether. His heroic diving catch in the 9th inning, preserved Kenley Jansen's save and all but ensured he'll be in the lineup tomorrow.

While Kershaw technically might still be fighting his demons with the no-decision against a Phillies team that doesn't have much power (Howard, Utley on DL), the reality is that he did enough to keep the Dodgers in position for a late game win. He was effective enough to stick around 7 full innings in a hitter friendly park like Citizen's Bank Field. The Dodgers are now 34-21 and refuse to relinquish the MLB's best record. During a very daunting stretch of 20 games in 20 days, where the Dodgers play 4 straight in Philadelphia before flying all the way to Seattle for inter league play, getting wins on days that Kershaw starts is key. So step one has been accomplished, and the Giants are kept at bay for the time being. Its important to get wins against good teams on days where the team that is chasing you (Giants) plays a bottom dweller like the Cubs. 

See you all tomorrow on twitter for game 2 as the Dodgers try to ensure, at the very least, a series split.

Dodgers Refuse to Lose

Well... Somebody had to get to 30 wins first, and at this point, the Los Angeles Dodgers seem to be a team of destiny in 2012. They were destined for new ownership and landed the "dream team". And coming off of their hot finish in 2011, it looked as if the Dodgers were destined to get off to a much stronger start in Don Mattingly's sophomore season as manager. But 30-13 (best record in MLB) and a 7 game division lead (biggest in MLB)? I'm not sure anybody saw this coming. And for the very select (and/or crazy) few who predicted the Dodgers would be the class of Major League Baseball through the first 43 games of 2012, none of them would have predicted the Dodgers would be doing so with out the help of one of the league's best all around players.

The Dodgers were off to a hot first month, and as the calendar turned to the month of May, they began to face some adversity and attrition. Opening day starters Juan Rivera, Matt Kemp, and Juan Uribe were all on the disabled list when the defending world champs came to Dodger Stadium last weekend. Don Mattingly started to write lineup cards that looked so bad, I was forced to coin the phrase "Kemp-ocalypse". Even one of the Dodgers most reliable players in 2B Mark Ellis experienced a freak injury that almost cost him his leg (literally). The thought was that the Dodgers would HAVE to regress with the call ups of Van Slyke, Sands, Hererra, DeJesus, and Sellers combined with the miniature benchings of James Loney and Dee Gordon . But in the last week, all six have made considerable (even heroic) contributions to the club's current 6-game winning streak. Between Scott Van Slyke's 7th inning 3-run home run at Dodger stadium on Sunday to complete the sweep of the Cardinals, and Tuesday night's 2RBI double by Ivan DeJesus while trailing a run with 2 outs in the 9th inning in Arizona, the Dodgers continue to get help from various lesser known players on a daily basis.

Los Angeles has a chance to complete their second consecutive series sweep and what would be their 6th of the season. The idea of this ball club getting one of the league's best everyday players back in CF (Kemp in a week), and one of the league's best utility players in back on the bench (Hairston in a few days), makes it hard to believe that the Dodgers can't build upon their lead in the standings before the All-Star break. Somebody had to get to 30 wins first, and with the four biggest payrolls in the sport (Angels, Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox) struggling just to stay in contention, it only makes sense that a team full of triple-A regulars would help an injury riddled club storm to 17 games over .500. Everyday someone else is taking their turn being the hero. The 2012 season was set up to be a season of destiny.... so far, so good. OH, soooo good.

15 Days of Kemp-ocalypse

Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp picked up in 2012 where he left off in the final months of his 2011 MVP campaign. He broke out of the gates by leading the majors in almost every single meaningful statistical category. But then something happened... Wrigley Field happened. A ballpark that is mostly known for its century plus curse which breaks the heart of Cub's fans annually, is now Matt Kemp's house of horrors. Not only were the cold whipping winds of Chicago's north side refusing to let each of Matty's hits get past the warning track, but the infamous infield, so poorly manicured that you can count the dirt clods on your living room TV,  was loose enough for Kemp to take a wrong step and trigger a hammy issue. An issue that he bravely battled for nearly a week before the Dodgers were forced to place him on the 15-day disabled list.

The reality has set in since Monday night, when the Dodgers weren't able to slip the ailing Kemp into the 2nd game of the Arizona series for a pinch hit appearance. His league leading consecutive games played streak ended at an impressive 399, while the new leader is a slugger who also cashed in this last off season, Prince Fielder. Despite Matt's absence, the Dodgers were able to ride the team's momentum to take the series with a game 2 win. Unfortunately that momentum came to a screeching halt on Tuesday as we were all exposed to this team's complexion without our shining star. And it went something like this

1. Dee Gordon (who unfortunately hasn't blossomed in his first chance to have a full MLB season as a starter... hitting around .200)
2. Mark Ellis (actually had a great night going 3 for 4 with a HR, but with out any production on either side)
3. Scott Van Slyke (making his "starting" MLB debut, and for all his minor league success, this is MATT KEMP's slot for gosh sakes)
4. Andre Ethier (who made what might be his ONLY career start in CF...)
5. AJ Ellis (the team's anchor all season at the 8th spot, was in the spot light at 5 and stunk)
6. Jerry Sands (you might remember him from last season, but he had JUST gotten to called up that day)
7. James Loney (who seems to be losing his job by the day as he had another sad 0-4)
8. Justin Sellers (last guy to make the opening day roster... enough said)
9. Pitchers spot

 Soooo... the Dodgers started 4 rookies and managed 1 run. Sounds about right.

Then there was day 2 of what I'm affectionately describing as the "Kemp-ocalypse". This is what life would look like without Matt, and if this Dodgers lineup was a person's face, it would be the before picture in all of those pro-active acne ads. OK maybe its not that terrible, but my gosh, this team feels 200% more beatable without the 1-2 punch of Matt and 'Dre. Then Mattingly gave us this little gem:

1. Tony Gwynn (it was nice seeing an actual CFer starting in CF but its tough not seeing Dee's speed somewhere in the lineup)
2. Elian Herrera (his 2nd day as a Major Leaguer and he got to spell Mark Ellis with a 1st inning double)
3. Bobby Abreu (aquired to be a bat off the bench, he had a token basehit in the 9th)
4. Andre Ethier (order was restored with Andre being back in RF, and after his RBI in the first, he didnt do much)
5. Jerry Sands (day 2 with the 2012 club and he also gets another start, this time giving Loney the day off at 1B)
6. Justin Sellers (this time Sellers took his steady glove over to SS, but predictably did nothing with his bat)
7. Adam Kennedy (only thing worse than this guy's non production, is that blank look he always has)
8. Matt Traenor (it was AJ Ellis' day off, and Matt did have a double but who can replace Aj's OBP.... sadly no one)
9. Pitchers spot 

Soooo... The Dodgers start 3 rookies and 4 backups... 2 run loss to the NL's worst team? Sounds about right.

And now we dig in for the third day of the Kemp-ocalypse. We'll surely see another lineup that we all dislike in Thursday night's wrap up of the mini 2-game series at Petco Park. And as hard as it is having to just make sense of these lineups, its even harder for Don Mattingly  to frantically piece together the Kemp-less, Uribe-less, and Rivera-less puzzle on a daily basis. Injuries are a part of all sports, and the art of overcoming such attrition is why baseball managers get paid so much money. But the 15-day managerial purgatory that Mattingly has been faced with during the absence of his best player, is a challenge that no one would ever desire. Fortunately for the Dodgers and their 0-2 record of Kemp-ocalypse, is the fact that the next closest team in the NL West standing (SF Giants) have lost on consecutive nights as well. Meaning the lead is still at 6 games, and Dodger Nation can take a collective breath of relief. 

I hope you all have put together your Kemp-ocalypse Survival Kits. I have included large amounts of gauze to wrap my head, considering the next 12 days will include a lot of banging my head against the wall. For now, we have to cross our fingers and weather the storm (and hope the new Dodger ownership notices how this team feels with out Kemp). See you all on May 29th, I'll be giving out high fives, hugs and hand shakes.

Dodgers sweep Rockies, Have Most Wins in Baseball

It seems as if the Dodgers plan on making the most of their long stretch of inter divisional games in the month of May. The boys in blue have taken 5 of their last 6 over the Giants and Rockies after returning home from a dismal 2-4 road trip. Not only have the last few games helped the Dodgers return to having the best record in baseball with 23 wins, But Los Angeles also owns the best home record in baseball at 15-3 and the largest division lead at 6 games. So much has happened since we last spoke...

The Dodgers had 3 players home run in the series opener on Friday night. They had three very similar swings result all in fly outs at the center field warning track on Saturday night.  But the Dodgers were able to win both games As the embattled Dodgers 3rd baseman Juan Uribe got off of the proverbial shneid on Friday night as he hit his first home run in almost an entire year and then had an important RBI single in a low-scoring 2-1 affair in which the Dodgers won on Saturday.

While last years bunch of Dodgers quickly learned that the only way they could win games was in pain stakingly low scoring affairs, this years club has proven that they can win in all types of ways. Through the first month of the season, it was the RBI machine of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier doing all the work while their supporting cast was helpful yet relatively quiet. But as the month turned to May and Matt Kemp with his nagging hamstring issues has gone cold, its been time for everyone else's close up. This most recent home stand has seen extra base hits and RBI's from Mark Ellis, James Loney, AJ Ellis, Tony Gwynn Jr, Bobby Abreu, and Juan Uribe.

Such a contribution could not have been timed any better, as Sunday's final game of the series with the Rockies saw Colorado jump out to the 3 run lead before the Dodgers had even recorded an out.  After Dodgers staert Ted Lilly had settled down and the Dodgers had cut into said lead with runs in the 1st and 2nd, Matt Kemp left the game at the end of the 3rd inning with a re-aggravated sore hammy. Right fielder Andre Ethier and Manager Don Mattingly were soon to follow after receiving consecutive ejections in the 5th inning. Despite those subtractions, the Dodgers were able to over come a 4-2 deficit, with a bases clearing 3-rbi double by Bobby Abrea batting in Kemp's slot. Another 3 runs were plated by a 3-run AJ Ellis home run to the left field pavilion. After the eventful 6 run frame, the Dodgers never looked back.

Some observations that I had to make:

• Andre Ethier gets ejected on his own themed "Tote-Bag" giveaway day because of a strikeout pitch that looked like a pretty good pitch. Even more ironic than his promotional toss out, was that it came with his mother in attendance for the mothers day festivities. He had some good words and quality expletives with the home plate umpire. Which begs the question, "does he kiss his mother with that mouth?"

• Matt Kemp's hamstring issue has been classified as sore, which was exactly what scratched him from the lineup in Chicago. I have a feeling that subliminally, Mattingly has been trying to keep Matt Kemp's games played streak (best in majors) alive for Matt's sake. It was clear how angry he was when he was asked to leave the game, after Donny spoke with the training staff. I say the Dodgers just shut him down for a few days and get him fully right, so he can get back to being the best hitter in the sport.

• AJ Ellis had his career high in RBI's on Sunday after having been moved into the 6th spot in the lineup. Mattingly says he's comfortable with AJ's bat in his more traditional 8 hole, but the guy is 3rd in all of baseball in on-base percentage. I'm thinking that everyone benefits from AJ batting 6 or 7. His numbers can hang with any catcher in baseball at this point, and while his career might not jump off the page as Mr. Sexy, he has quietly helped this club reach the best record in baseball through 34 games. He currently holds a streak of 23 games where he has reached base safely. I say good for him, the 31 year old has definitely earned it.

• Juan Rivera's ruptured hammy has led to a week of firsts for Dodgers rookie Scotty Van Slyke. In his first game appearance on Wednesday night, Scott had his first RBI in his first at-bat. On Sunday afternoon, he saw his first MLB defensive experience after Ethier's ejection. After that, he went up to the plate and got two RBI's out of his first extra base hit (double to the LC gap). I've never been a fan of platoons, but with the way Tony Gwynn has played (both his bat and glove), and the way Van Slyke has flashed his swing and arm in the last few days, I could see these two being starters based on the lefty/righty match ups.

TDB: Odds and Ends

The Dodgers wrapped up their first 2012 series with the San Francisco Giants last night by pulling away from Tim Lincecum and Company. Tony Gwynn Jr.'s pinch hit triple cleared the bases and made the chances of the Dodgers losing another low scoring, 2-1 type game disappear. Not to often are you going to see the Dodgers beat a two-time Cy Young winner when their own starter has thrown 85 pitches through 4 innings. But last night was the exception to the rule, as the clutch pinch hit, combined with Jamey Wright's solid 2 innings of relief shut down the Giants offense. Which allowed manager Don Mattingly to avoid digging deep into his bullpen.

Speaking of Mattingly... Only a few hours after I was tearing his decisions from Tuesday night apart on my podcast, he looked like a pure genius by having TGJr. bat in Chad Billingsley's spot in the bottom of the fourth. The game was heading in the direction of a loss as the Dodgers righthander had been fighting his stuff from the jump, and Timmy was dealing. So when the bases were loaded with one out in the 4th, Donny obviously felt it could potentially be his team's only chance to jump all over the Giants. Mattingly took his shot, and Chad was not thrilled. After he was called back from the on-deck circle, he immediately smacked his bat on the ground of the dugout before sitting down and cooling his jets. Fortunately for Chad he was off the hook of a loss after the pinch hit. Unfortunately for Chad he had not reached the five inning minimum to be in line for the win. Considering how badly he was missing locations, he can call it a wash.

So its the day off for 'Dem Bums (20-11) but The Dodger Blog never takes a day off, whether it be by blog, podcast, facebook, or twitter. So with that being said, lets dive into whats going around the Dodger Town:

• Scott Van Slyke made his Major League debut last night with an RBI, broken-bat single pinch hit in the late innings. I could give an entire diatribe about what Andy's son may or may not do for the Dodgers this season, but the reality is Mike Petriello over at the blog "Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness" already did so.
• Van Slyke is currently occupying Juan Rivera's spot on the roster while Rivera spends the time being on the disabled list with a strained or "sore" left hamstring. So far this season the "H-word" has been the fly in the ointment for the Dodgers' training staff. Iron man Matt Kemp, the owner of Major League Baseballs longest games played streak, missing a start last week in Chicago (he still looks a step slow as we speak), Jerry Hairston Jr. having the last few games off as he's trying to stay off the disabled list himself, and now Rivera is gone. The Dodgers are hoping that this hamstring fiasco follows the rule of bad things coming in three's, and that there won't be a fourth hammy issue before the end of may.
• The Dodger Blog got a little bit of a face lift today. Seeing as I'm in the plastic surgery capital of the country (Hollywood), it only seemed natural. Hopefully, the loyal few followers of TDB find the page a little easier on the eyes and the mouse pad. You no longer have to go constantly scrolling through past posts when looking for any previous pod casts. There's a little player just to your right hand side where you can find the latest audio from TDB.

The Dodgers still share the best record in the National League and we're over a month into the season. While I'm not completely sold that this team is the real deal quite yet, there is definitely an air of confidence and positivity in the Dodgers club house this year that seems to breeding success. Good evening to you, wherever you may be.

Dodgers v. Giants: The Rubber Match

In the last 10 years the series is quite literally as close as possible. The Dodgers have won 94 games and after last nights 2-1 final, the Giants have won 93. Now its on manager Don Mattingly to shake off last nights barrage of bunts and beat Bochy (was that quality alliteration? oh well, I try). The rubber match in the 3 game series is set for tonight at 7:10 PM PT. Chad Billingsley (2-2, 3.19 ERA) takes the mound at Dodger stadium, attempting to fend off on another ace in the form of Tim Lincecum (2-2, 5.68 ERA). His last showing at home against the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg was a gritty performance in which he allowed only one earned run and kept the Dodgers in the game until the opposing pitcher ran out of gas. Unfortunately the start that took place between then and now was a demoralizing loss to the lowly Chicago Cubs. Where they hung four earned runs on Chad in the early goings and the Dodgers could never recover. With Chad its always been the same story, which pitcher are we going to see, "Dr. Billz, or Mr. Chad". Los Angeles is hoping that they get the pleasant version this evening, the right handed version that showed signs in his young career of being a stud.  Not the guy who fights his stuff all evening and allows the opposition to see too many pitches.

Donny Baseball is going with a severe case of the left/right advantage, as he essentially has crammed as many left handed hitters he has into tonight's lineup that will face the righty Lincecum. Mark Ellis gets the day off and Juan Rivera is going to the DL (per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times) as former-Angels Adam Kennedy and Bobby Abreu get the nod in their stead. I wont get into the bunting fiasco in print, seeing as I have already vented about it in my podcast this morning (included below). With that being said, tonight we better see a little more patience by the Dodgers at the plate, because there's no better way to force Donny into getting conservative and playing more small ball than some anxious early innings at-bats that allow Timmy to put some zeros on the board and make this a pitchers duel.

Here are tonight's starting lineups:

Dodgers                                  Giants 

Gordon SS                            Blanco CF

Kennedy 2B                            Burris 2B

Kemp CF                            Cabrera LF

Ethier RF                                  Posey C

Abreu LF                                    Belt 1B

Uribe 3B                          Schierholtz RF

Loney 1B                                 Arias 3B

Ellis C                                Crawford SS

Billingsley P                          Lincecum P

Here is the podcast about last night:

listen to ‘Today's podcast sounds off on Don #Mattingly's sac bunt party as the #Dodgers lost to the #SFGiants last night’ on Audioboo

TDB's Podcast of Bryce Harper's Debut

Here are the last two Podcasts from TDB as we discuss the closet situation as well as the debut of teenager Bryce Harper in tonight's match up between the Dodgers and Nationals.

listen to ‘The dodger blog addresses the #javy #guerra issue and discusses how long of a leash the #dodgers and their fans should give their closer.’ on Audioboo

The pride of Las Vegas, Nevada will start his first MLB game in left field. In 2010 he was the recipient of the Golden Spikes award, which honors the best amateur baseball player. Let's see what kind of spikes he has when he shares an outfield with opposing players like Matt Kemp.

listen to ‘TDB recaps last night and previews tonight's debut of #nationals rookie #BryceHarper against the #Dodgers.’ on Audioboo

Cheers

Hump Day at TDB

It looks as if my guest article about the Dodgers' everday depth on Mike Petriello's popular Dodger fan blog "Mike Sciosia's Tragic Illness" has spurred some quality debate on how the organization should go forward. Building around special pieces like Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, is going to be paramount over the next calendar year (if new ownership looks to start making an immediate run at some titles).

Here's another TDB Podcast recapping last nights defeat and previewing the final game of the home series with Atlanta.

listen to ‘ TDB recaps last nights loss and previews the rubber match as #dodgers wrap up 3-game series with #braves.’ on Audioboo

Cheers

Pre-Game Pod Casts...

While we might have benefited from waiting until the batting lineup for today's game with the Astros had been posted before recording TDB's first-ever podcast, the thoughts on the Dodgers are hopefully relevant nonetheless. Have a great start to your weekend. Think Blue.

listen to ‘The first ever podcast from The Dodger Blog is a preview of the #Dodgers and #Astros in the 2nd game of the series’ on Audioboo

Today's starting lineup:

Gordon SS 

Kennedy 2B 

Kemp CF 

Ethier RF 

Rivera LF 

Loney 1B 

Sellers 3B 

AJ Ellis C 

Kershaw P

Will Ethier Contract Year Make Lasting Impact?

While the Dodgers' season still has 97% it's games left to play (yes I did the math), we have already begun to draw some pretty obvious conclusions. This team, for all of the new ownership's future presence is worth is pretty much the same team as last year. You can assume all you want about that this year having a fresh breath of air that might breed success and positivity. For that I will not disagree but unfortunately this still looks to be the team with a Cy Young pitcher and marginal run support. The MVP- type talents of Matt Kemp are now truly realized and the potential of Dee Gordon's raw athleticism at the leadoff/SS role is infinite. My biggest question coming into 2012 was which Andre Ethier would we come to expect and would he figure to be a key part of the franchise going forward?

Was the Andre Ethier who ran a hitting streak to 30 games at the beginning of last season only dissapear into the dog days of summer with nagging injuries the guy we were to expect to roaming around RF in Chavez Ravine? Or would we ever again see the guy who came to be known as Mr. Clutch, while littering the 08-09 seasons with countless game winning hits and walk-off home runs? The recent signings of both Prince Fielder with the Detroit Lions and Albert Pujols with the Angels had to resonate with Ethier as he was preparing to come into spring camp. The market value for a left handed power hitter was set pretty high with those contracts and all the while he was watching his outfield mate, Matt Kemp, sign the largest contract in franchise history. With plenty of prime years remaining Ethier had to see all this offseason activity and be thinking the proverbial "What about me?".

As the questions surrounding his health were cleared up this spring, it seemed as if Andre was in perfect position to get himself back to the peak form that Dodger fans enjoyed in years past. He also seemed primed to put himself back in the spotlight for one last major contract. After 5 games Ethier's numbers are huge, and Kemp is telling the media he'd prefer that Ethier get a contract extension sooner than later. My intuition is that Ethier continues on his torrid pace with the bat throughout the first half of the season, the new ownership will make their first order of business giving him a large contract somewhere in the rance of 6 years and 120 million. That would lock him up through the rest of his prime and have his contract expire the same year as Matt Kemp's. If this franchise plans on turning a new leaf and making big free agent splashes in the next few years, the big money free agents are going to want to see some sort of foundation built. Pujols signed with the Angels because he was the "next piece" on already well constructed team, and same with Fielder to the tigers.

My speculation is that baseball is starting to go the way of the NBA, where big name free agents want to be the "right fit" on a team that is ready to compete for a world title. We all watched Jason Werth take the biggest money possible with the Washington Nationals and I'm not sure we'll ever hear from him again. Don't get me wrong, there's NOTHING wrong with making that kind of money, but guys like Ethier (and the type of free agents Dodger fans hope LA will start to go after) hit the age of 30 and start to think about their legacy. He's off to a hot start, and for all we know that might that be all it is, "a good first 5 games." Or we could see Matt Kemp getting his biggest MVP competition from within his own clubhouse. If it's anything closer to the latter, look for Ethier to give his agent permission to talk Kemp-like numbers with the new head honchos. Maybe then big name free agents might start throwing the Dodgers on their wishlist because they feel something special might be brewing.