Birdman, and Ryu Scheduled To Make Dodger Debut Against Pale Hose

The Dodgers will play their second exhibition game this afternoon, against the Chicago White Sox. Last night’s 9-0 drubbing in the opener was annoying no doubt, but ultimately irrelevant. I just want to remind everyone that Spring Training games are meaningless, and we still have a long way to go before the games are for keeps. Let’s keep that in perspective. Although it would be nice if the Dodgers could ya know, score a run or two.

Speaking of perspective, Eric Stephen of Truebluela gives his on the lead-off situation after a discussion with Dodger manager Don Mattingly. Of course the question of who should lead-off for the Dodgers has been discussed to death over here, and in many other places around the internet. Mattingly explained to Eric that he will use a combination of Carl Crawford, Mark Ellis, and Skip Schumaker as lead-off hitters during the regular season. Schumaker might be used against right handers. Hanley Ramirez hit lead-off yesterday, but Mattingly said that was only to get him as many at-bats as possible to prepare for the World Baseball Classic.

Will Birdman Greinke let his fastballs fly during his Dodger Spring debut?-Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve been advocating bating A.J. Ellis  the top of the lineup for a long time now, as has a lot of other people. A.J. is superior at getting on base, and according to Eric, some of the other reporters began to ask Mattingly about that idea again. Mattingly shot it down immediately. It seems poor A.J. is doomed to the bottom of the lineup for another season. As I have said before, there is no way Mattingly bats A.J. lead-off, even though he should, and Mattingly confirmed that himself. What a shame to waste such on base skills in front of the pitcher. He also said he will not bat Hanley at lead-off either.  Mattingly joked about A.J. clogging up the lineup, and Eric quipped back,

"“He could clog it up, or he could make an out and sit back next to you on the bench like some of the guys you had up there last year,”"

Well played Eric, well played.

Birdman Zack Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu will both make their Dodger debuts today at Camelback Ranch. Also making appearances in today’s game is NRI Peter Moylan, Josh Wall, Matt Palmer, and Stephen Ames.

Mark Ellis leads off today, while Hanley Ramirez hits second. Alex Castellanos, who seems like a forgotten man out there, will start in center field, and Jeremy Moore, the non roster guy and former Angel, will play I left field and bat eighth. Tim Federowicz will catch, and international prospect Yasiel Puig will DH and bat ninth. Remember Matt Kemp, and Crawford are both being held out of games until the first week of March. You can check out the rest of the lineup below. We will only be doing recaps of the spring games that are televised, but we will always give you a short synopsis of the game. Once the regular season starts we will return to our regular game recap format. The game is not on television, nor on 570AM, but will be broadcast on the Dodger’s Spanish station, KTNQ 1020. You can also check out the score on Gameday. Go Blue!

Dodgers Lineup vs. White Sox

Puig DH