Around the Horn: Outfield
02/08/2006LOS ANGELES -- Last year's injuries continue to impact the Dodgers outfield entering 2006.
So much is needed from right fielder and No. 3 hitter J.D. Drew, who is expected to spend much of Spring Training nursing his right (throwing) shoulder following labrum surgery.
Drew also underwent cleanup surgery on his right wrist, but avoided surgery on the left wrist, which was broken by a pitch June 3, sending him to the sidelines for the rest of the season.
And that summary of Drew's medical history from last season doesn't include the chondromalcia in his left knee, a chronic arthritic deterioration that must be managed daily.
The 30-year-old Drew, entering the second season of a five-year, $55 million contract, played only 72 games for the Dodgers, not even half his 145-game total from the previous season, which was a career high.
And that's the stat that has the new Dodgers regime most worried. As a five-tool player, Drew is talented but proven brittle. And the organization is thin in the outfield.
Jayson Werth, whose injury history isn't anything to brag about either, won't be riding to the rescue any time soon. Werth is expected to spend April (and then some) on the disabled list for the third consecutive season.
After his acquisition the last week of 2004 Spring Training, Werth pulled an oblique muscle the first week of the season and missed 50 games. When he returned, he showed a clutch power bat, slugging 16 homers in 290 at-bats. He played through a broken rib suffered at the end of July and injured his right elbow on a throw during the National League Championship Series.
Healed from the elbow injury and primed for a breakout season, Werth was drilled in his second plate appearance of the spring by a 94-mph A.J. Burnett fastball that broke a bone in his left wrist. As it turned out, the injury also tore a ligament, but that wasn't discovered until after an entire injury-plagued 2005 season.
Werth underwent surgery in November, had pins and the cast removed only two weeks ago and doesn't know when he'll be ready to play, but expects it to be later rather than sooner. June might be about right, but he's vowed not to return until he's 100 percent healed after playing hurt last year.
With that as a backdrop, new general manager Ned Colletti did not acquire a big bat to play a corner outfield position. He did replace Milton Bradley in center field with Kenny Lofton, who is 38 and isn't expected to play much more than 100 games.
Jose Cruz Jr. is the Dodgers outfield X factor. Discarded by Arizona and Boston last year, Cruz's seven-week stint with the Dodgers might have resurrected a career that saw him slug 31 and 34 home runs with Toronto in 2000-01. The switch-hitting Cruz, 32 in April, hit six homers and drove in 22 runs in 47 games with the Dodgers.
After Cruz, however, the Dodgers outfield options drop off significantly. Ricky Ledee is a professional hitter, but a chronic hamstring weakness could not hold up to much more than pinch-hitting. Jason Repko showed Gold Glove defensive ability, but he looked like a rookie offensively last year (.221, 80 strikeouts in 276 at-bats).
Cody Ross, who played only 14 games with the Dodgers last year, returns to camp. But there's already a buzz about the presence of Andre Ethier, the Double-A Texas League player of the year who was acquired from Oakland in the Bradley trade. If there's a darkhorse candidate, he's the one. The club also will get its first significant look at Matt Kemp, who hit 27 home runs last year with 90 RBIs at Class A Vero Beach. Tydus Meadows and Jon Weber are in camp for the second year.
Prospect Delwyn Young, an offensive-minded second baseman, began a conversion to the outfield during Instructional League and figures to see some outfield time this spring.
Source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/
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