Seeing how badly I whiffed when I tried to handicap the Dodgers-Cardinals series last week, particularly when it came to my assessment of the Dodgers' rotation, I think I'm going to get out out of the prognostication business and merely pass along information about that kind of thing and let history take its course. Things like this:Manager Joe Torre said Hiroki Kuroda could join the Dodgers' playoff roster and start against the Philadelphia Phillies depending on how he feels today after pitching a simulated game Tuesday in Peoria, Ariz.That simulated game was actually yesterday, and according to True Blue L.A., he threw 75 pitches, over which Joe Torre said he had "surprisingly good" command.
Sidelined for the division series because of a bulging disk in his neck, Kuroda completed five innings in 49 pitches while facing minor leaguers before throwing an additional 21 pitches in the bullpen. He reported no complaints about his neck.
Given his solid start against the Cardinals, Vicente Padilla has to be a definite, as does Kershaw and Wolf. Assuming, as is likely, that Kuroda can go, that would presumably mean that Chad Billingsley would slide to the pen and Jon Garland would be off the NLCS roster entirely.
In light of Padilla's emergence and the return of Kuroda, a rotation that looked to be a weakness in the NLDS -- at least to morons like me -- now shapes up to be a strength against the Phillies.
Craig, one start doesn't change the fact that he's Vincente Padilla. Yeah, he might have gotten a boost going to quad-A, but that's not going to fly against the Phils' offense, especially not in their ballpark. We have significant evidence, beyond Game Three of the LDS, that Chad Billingsley is a better pitcher than Vincente Padilla. We shouldn't ignore it.