I’ll save admitting I was wrong for sometime during the regular season. This is, after all, SPRING TRAINING. But yes, for now, Andre Ethier, having just gone 3 for 4 with an opposite-field HR and four RBI, is hitting .300 to Juan Pierre’s .186 (he went 0 for 4, one ball hit out of the infield). Kemp is hitting .308 after going 1 for 5 as the DH in the People’s Republic.
This is Bob Schaefer after the game on the fact the club now APPEARS to have three OFs competing for two spots:
“It’s better than having two. It’s a good problem to have. It’s going to be tough to make out the lineup, and Joe realizes that. We have four solid outfielders. But Joe will work it out. We’re always going to have a good guy on the bench, put it that way. You’re better off with too many that not enough.”
Penny was spectacular over five shutout innings, allowing one hit and recording 10 groundball outs. Saito made his spring debut with a perfect inning, three straight ground balls, threw 10 pitches, six of them strikes, and later said he felt fine physically.
Tommy finally wins a game, and as he walked from the dugout into the clubhouse, he revived the old “How sweet it is, the fruits of victory” mantra from 1988. Despite playing two games on two different sides of the globe, the Dodgers got through an entire day without losing and are now 7-10-2 for the spring. As for the Nationals, they don’t appear very good at all. But then, I predicted they would lose 110 games last year, and they didn’t come close to that, going 73-89 (can you say moral victory?). And again, this is SPRING TRAINING. Home against the Marlins tomorrow, the Dodgers penultimate game at Vero Beach.