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| Juan Pierre is doing a pretty good Manny impression
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Manny Ramirez worked out at Dodger Stadium yesterday for the first time since being suspended three weeks ago.
He's already completed one-third of the suspension, sitting out 17 of 50 games, and as expected the Dodgers are doing just fine without him.
Los Angeles is 10-7 without Ramirez and has increased its lead in the NL West from 6.5 games to 7.5 games despite the second-place Padres riding a 10-game winning streak.
Juan Pierre has replaced Ramirez in left field for each of the 17 games, batting .397/.482/.562 with 11 multi-hit games, eight steals, 13 RBIs, and 16 runs scored.
For comparison, Ramirez was batting .348/.492/.641 in 27 games prior to being suspended and has hit .380/.490/.710 in 80 total games with the Dodgers. Pierre hasn't been quite that great and should come crashing back down to earth any moment now, but when you account for the upgrade defensively in left field the Dodgers haven't missed a beat.
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The Dodgers are chugging right along because their pitching staff has responded. Jeff Weaver has regained his form, Eric Stoltz has provided a lot of help and despite Chad Billingsley struggling a little, the team does what it takes to win. Of course, Juan Pierre has been wonderful at the leadoff spot, but a lot of their recent offensive success can be attributed to Casey Blake. He's hitting over .400 over the last 18 games or so. The point is, the Dodgers play as a team and don't concern themselves with hitting home runs. Yesterday's 16 runs scored in their victory over Colorado was done without the benefit of a homerun. That means they are hitting with a lot of discipline and aren't necesarilly swinging for the fences.
I would say that their pitching has been better than I expected, but is still shaky. It's more of a patch job than a bullpen. I think at this point, they've proven they have a potentent lineup, but have had to come-back many times when they lost leads. A little more reliability in the bullpen and the Dodgers will go a very long ways come September and October.
I definitely agree with the shakey pitching part, but I think they are showing improvement and there have been plenty of times where they have kept the Dodgers in a close ball game. I also believe they have to go out there and obtain some middle relief help and another starting pitcher. In September and October, games are a lot tighter and the quality of a bullpen is much more important.