A Look at April

Record: 14-13

Standings: 2nd NL West: 5.5 games behind Arizona

MVP: Rafael Furcal

The Los Angeles Dodgers closed out the month of April with a 5 game win streak and one game over the .500 mark. So, how did they get there?

April saw Joe Torre tinker the heck out of the Dodgers starting lineup. He had guys all over the map trying to figure out the what works best for this team and finished April with 25 different lineups in 27 games. It wasn’t until the final two days of the month that the team saw the same lineup in consecutive days. (It seemed to work as it resulted in a 20-7 route of the Marlins in those two days.)

Rafael Furcal looked like a possible MVP candidate with one of the most impressive Aprils in Dodger history. He finished with a .381 AVG, 26 runs, 11 RBI, and 7 steals. He had 17 extra base hits in the month which is the most by any Dodger since the team moved to Los Angeles. He finished with 4 errors on defense, but had quite a bit more “web gems” and could be on the road toward a gold glove if he buckles down on the few mistakes.

The anti-Furcal this month is, without any shred of doubt, Andruw Jones. Jones has looked absolutely terrible both at the plate, and physically. Coming into the Spring Jones was noticeably heavier than anyone would have liked, and his bat has been downright laughable. He closed out the month with a dreadful .159 AVG, just 1 HR, 4 RBI, a .282 OBP and a .250 SLG. Coming into the year, fans hoped Jones would at least repeat his 2007 numbers, which was a career low at the time, but he has been short of even that.

Andre Ethier has solidified his spot in the starting lineup. He posted a .329 AVG and knocked in 13 RBI. There was question prior to the year about who the starters would be in the OF, Ethier has silenced that.

The first base position looks as solid as fans had hoped. James Loney began the year with a 15 game hitting streak and finished up April batting .272. He has been a bit streaky and would benefit, obviously, in finding a nice consistency here on out. His 19 RBI leads the team thus far and things definitely look bright for him here on out.

All-Star Russell Martin began the year competing with Jones for worst player on the team. Unlike Jones, Martin has reached his career marks and completed April with a .306 AVG, 3 HR, 11 RBI, and a .455 OBP. The fan favorite has definitely found his stroke and has been key to getting the Blue back on track.

Future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent has been solid. He finished up April with a .277 AVG, 14 RBI, 2 HR, .318 OBP and .422 SLG.

Youngster Matt Kemp had his struggles early on, trading playing time with Juan Pierre. He has proven his worth, however, batting .321 in 81 at-bats, knocked in 15 RBI, slugged .500, but he did strike out 23 times. If he can make better judgments at the plate, he could find himself reaching the superstar status most fans think he can reach.

The offense as a whole found itself being very up, or very down.  The ups saw victories over the Marlins of 13-1, the Padres 11-1, and the Pirates 11-2. On the flip side, their trip to Atlanta resulted in the Braves outscoring the Dodgers 16-3, with the Blue scoring 1 run in each of the games. Hopefully the end of the month points to things clicking as they finished April with 137 runs, good for third in the National League.

The pitching staff posted a 3.70 ERA throughout April which puts them 5th in the National League there. They struck out 181 batters while walking 81. Brad Penny and Derek Lowe have performed to expectations with Chad Billingsley struggling a bit, but he finally recorded his first win during the last day of the month. Hiroki Kuroda was a pretty solid number 4 guy, but needs to keep the ball down as he gets the opposing lineups multiple times. The fifth spot has been iffy with Esteban Loiaza coming out of April as the main number 5 guy. There has been talk about possibly bringing up prospect Clayton Kershaw from Double A, but that will probably happen later in the year.