Dodgers Give the Ball to Jamey Wright as they Take on San Diego

The Dodgers will go up against the San Diego Padres at Camelback Ranch for the first time this Spring. Ted Lilly, who was originally slated to start today, will instead pitch in a minor league game with Treanor catching for him so that management can watch non-roster players. Jamey Wright will start in Lilly’s place. Andre Ethier, who hit his second homerun of the Spring in yesterday’s game, gets the day off. Tony Gwynn Jr. will start in right field. Jerry Hairston Jr. will start at third base instead of Juan Uribe. Could Uribe be any useless? This Spring, Uribe is only slightly hitting above the Mendoza line at .217. He has five hits in 23 at bats with four strikeouts and no homeruns. All of his hits have been singles. While Ethier, Rivera, and Loney seem to be hitting well this Spring or at least look like we could worry a little less about their production in the soon-to-be-starting season, Juan Uribe worries me greatly. I will be looking at him more closely soon, and we will attempt to figure out what we are going to do if Uribe is still useless a couple months in to the season.

Before we talk about the game, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times wrote an article yesterday which troubles me, but the idea is so incomprehensible to me I almost just brush it off completely. Reportedly one Dodger bidder has required about the naming rights to Dodger Stadium. That’s right, in the 50th Anniversary year of our beloved Dodger Stadium, one of the potential owners is thinking about the possibility of renaming DS. Blasphemy! It is unknown if said bidder is one of the five still in the running for the team, or if it was one of the bidders already cut. Obviously the naming rights would be very lucrative for the new owner, but it just cannot happen. The last thing Dodger fans would want to see is a new owner come in and make such a drastic change. Things would not bode over well. Time Warner Stadium? Wells Fargo Field? Dodger Stadium has never been called anything but, and that should stay that way forever in my opinion.

Jamey Wright (0-0, 3.60) vs. Tim Stauffer (0-1, 12.15)

Gordon SS

Mark Ellis 2B

Kemp CF

Loney 1B

Rivera LF

Gwynn RF

Hairston 3B

A.J. Ellis C

Wright P

Jamey Wright, the non-roster invite, has pitched five innings this Spring. Wright has allowed two earned runs on eight hits.

In Stauffer’s last outing against the Angels, he got clobbered and allowed 11 hits and five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched. The right-handed pitcher will look to go a little longer and fare a little better versus the Dodgers this afternoon.

First pitch is at 1:05 pm, and the game will be televised on Prime Ticket. Tomorrow the Dodgers will have a rare off day. Remember, the Dodgers open the season in San Diego on Thursday April 5th. Today will be a little bit of a Opening Series preview. Enjoy!

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