Imagining a new beginning to the Dodgers’ spring
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Let’s call that a fresh start. Just look at the past few weeks as one prolonged warm-up. A very ugly one.
That 5-15 record the Dodgers opened the spring with? Call it an extended mulligan. Act like it never happened. Make it the most convenient of memories.
This is pretty much the ideal time for the Dodgers to try and start over. They snapped their eight-game losing streak Tuesday with a 7-6 victory. Onward and upward! Wednesday is an off day and then comes the final 17 games of spring.
Plenty of time to get it right, or at least approach it.
Of course, wins and losses don’t mean diddly in the spring. As managers are fond of saying, who can remember the team that finished last spring with the best record?
All very true, though more so for a proven team, which at the moment, the Dodgers very much are not. They were a sub-.500 team last year that needs to build some confidence, that needs to start doing things the right way.
Through Monday, they had done precious little right.
They could not hit a lick. Their .239 batting average and .290 on-base percentage were the worst in the majors. Their .376 slugging percentage was fifth worst.
Pitching, the hoped-for strength of the team, wasn’t doing much, either. Unless you’re a big fan of balls. Their 5.19 earned-run average was ranked 23rd and only one team had given up more walks.
Fielding was just more of the same: Their 25 errors were tied for the second-highest in baseball.
That’s sort of the wrong trifecta for spring training. Can’t hit, pitch or field. Otherwise, all is so promising.
So erase it from the memory banks. The Dodgers need to figure they are now 1-0 and go forth and multiply proper results. They need to start doing the little things right, build some confidence, pull together as a team, and at least win a few games.
March 15, the day spring training started over.
-- Steve Dilbeck