Dodgers' Surprising Start Continues...

 The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their strong start to the season with a crazy May, going 20-9, it's highest win total in May since going 21-7 in 1962, all without Manny Ramirez. They also built on their lead in the National League West, leading the Giants by 8.5 games and also holding the best record in the Major Leagues.

 This month's MVP would easily have to go to Juan Pierre. Being the replacement of an all-time great in Manny Ramirez would be tough, but Juan Pierre has done THE perfect job in filling in the gap. He's easily been the most consistent hitter, batting .374 this season, which, despite not qualifying as a team high, is misleading as he's been the starter for the entire month.

 The "stinkiest" player of the month was Andre Ethier, who was easily playing as the best player on the Dodgers in April. His average fell from .306 at the end of April to .256 now. I have faith that he'll get back to where he was, but he's easily been the only one affected negatively(performance-wise) by the Manny suspension.

 The most surprising player has been...well, I'd say Juan Pierre, but its actually been the entire team. I don't think anyone saw us being the top team at the start of the year and especially after the whole Manny thing. It's been a fun season to watch so far, you just have to pray it continues. 

 The player to watch this month is Hiroki Kuroda, who is scheduled to pitch tomorrow after being put on the disabled list after his opening day start. When he's healthy, he has proven to be very good for us.....here's hoping he isn't put on the DL again. Haha.

 The games to look forward this month: From the 12th-28th, Interleague play.(12th-14th at Rangers, 16th-18th vs. Athletics, 19th-21st at Angels, 23rd-25th at White Sox, 26th-28th vs. Mariners) Always interesting, although it's kicked our butt in recent years.

My Thoughts On the Manny Ramirez News...

It was 8:52 AM, when I heard the news. I was refreshing twitter while playing NBA 2K9. I came across a post from mrquisp that said "manny is suspended." 

Not really knowing which 'Manny' it was(Pacquiao, Ramirez...), I went with Ramirez and put in "manny ramirez suspended" on google, went to news and it was the first link, Los Angeles Times. I didn't see the news on any other link, just that one. I was kind of laughing at the time because it seemed unreal.

The headline I saw was "Manny will be suspended 50 games for positive drug test." After seeing it online, I changed the channel to ESPN and sure enough, they were in the middle of talking about it. At that point, after seeing it on ESPN, it hit me. I wanted to cry, because I was so shocked.

As more and more found out about the news and more info was being said, I was posting it all over twitter, myspace, facebook, basically saying "I'm shocked.", "I'm gonna throw up.", all of that.

Then we found out the info of it being a female fertility pill. At that point, I didn't feel bad. Ya, he's suspended 50 games, and it's used as a post-steroid 'chaser', but if he passed all those drug tests before, he's clean to me. Why not? 

All signs point to him just making a mistake and getting unlucky. It was a personal thing and he was just unlucky that it happened to be on the list. 

I don't believe it'll affect him long term and I know many Dodger fans will be behind him, as we are all loyal to our players, maybe not Brett Tomko, but that's it. Haha.

I also believe it won't affect the Dodgers long-term either. Sure, they've lost the first 2 games at this point, but if they can win even 50% of the games that Manny is gone, I am fine, because I know, when Manny comes back, we'll be back to playing at a high level again. 

So, while all I read about Manny is negative, I believe they have to look at what he took, the passed drug tests of the past, his response, the doctor's mistake, the Dodger organization's response and Manny's past to make a real, thought out opinion, because all I see is the same answers. Everyone assumes it's steroids, yet they haven't even looked at the info.

So, until July 3rd, I'm pleading "Free Manny". 

Fast Start For The Dodgers

The 2009 season for the Dodgers has started off hot, with an explosive offense led by Manny Ramirez and a youthful pitching staff led by Chad Billingsley. After one month, the Dodgers are leading the NL West division by 3.5 games and they're only 1 game back of the Cardinals for the best record.

The MVP for the Dodgers, in my opinion, isn't Manny Ramirez. It would have to be Andre Ethier. With a .306 batting average and a team-high 22 RBI, which is also tied for 4th in the entire league. Ethier is my favorite player, so it's exciting to see him playing well.

The 'stinkiest' player for the Dodgers would have to be Russell Martin, who is batting .205, lowest batting average of any starter on the team. However, without Martin, we are not the same team and his presence is felt whether he's going 4-4 or 0-4, but he's been struggling all season. Many will say it's because he is tired from playing at a high level for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, which I believe is probably it. I'm sure he'll be fine as the season goes on.

Most surprising player...Orlando Hudson, definitely. I remember when he was playing for the Diamondbacks and he always used to give us problems but noticed he was never anything special outside of that. With a .337 batting average, 2nd highest on the team for everyday starters, 32 hits(highest on the team), and 19 runs(tied for 1st on the team with Manny), he has definitely been a key player for us.

Player to watch this month: Jeff Weaver. He was called up before the Padres game and did a pretty good job. I think, especially with how inconsistent our bullpen has been, he could be key for us. 

Games to look forward to: May 12-14 at Philadelphia. NL championship rematch. May 22-24 vs. Angels. Always a fun matchup.