Can Ethier protect Manny?

Joe Torre confirmed today what’s become pretty obvious in the last few days, that Manny Ramirez will bat third in the Dodgers’ lineup and Andre Ethier will follow him.

Things brings up two pretty big questions: Can Ethier protect him? And how badly will Ethier miss hitting in front of him?

Here’s what Joe Torre had to say about Ethier’s ability to protect ManRam:

“A lot of it is going to depend on the guys hitting in front of him. If they get on base there’s no protection involved,” Torre said. “If there’s nobody on base, it doesn’t matter whose hitting behind him. That’s why the top two guys are very important for us.”