Joe Torre told us this morning, just as he headed out the door to play golf on the team’s final off-day of the spring. It wasn’t an off-day for Chad Billingsley, as he pitched five innings in a minor-league intrasquad game. He gave up three runs on five hits, including a two-run homer to Dodgers infield prospect Austin Gallagher, but he threw a spring-high 76 pitches and said afterward he felt great and had a chance to work on a lot of things. He threw a TON of changeups.
As for the rotation, it sounds like Kuroda’s playoff performance, and the fact he really is a veteran even though he technically was a rookie last year, played a big factor here. He’ll start the April 6 opener at San Diego. And Billingsley, who was the regular-season ace and led the team with 16 wins, will start the third game in San Diego on April 8 — and more importantly, he now gets to start the home opener against the Giants on April 13.
Randy Wolf will pitch Game 2 on April 7, Clayton Kershaw Game 4 on April 9, also at San Diego. The fifth starter is yet to be determined.
What this does is allow the club to stagger the rotation right-left-right-left through the first four spots, although there is a good chance the fifth starter also will be a lefty (Eric Milton?).