Los Angeles Dodgers are MLB's best team

How about those Dodgers?

Not only do the Los Angeles Dodgers have MLB’s best record (56-32) at the All-Star break; second-place San Francisco in the NL West leads the wild card chase by two games.

Translated: The Dodgers are nine games in front of the competition for a berth in the 2009 playoffs.

This is a team that can be truly characterized as a “team,” since more than one individual is leading the way.

After all, the Dodgers went 29-21 when Manny Ramirez was on his 50-game drug suspension.

Can you imagine the St. Louis Cardinals going 29-21 without Albert Pujols?

Perhaps the best indication of the Dodgers’ depth is that Juan Pierre – Ramirez’s replacement during his suspension – is the team’s No. 4 outfielder. On any other team in the NL West, Pierre would probably be playing everyday and batting leadoff.

If the Dodgers have a weakness, it is their starting rotation’s inability to go deep into the game (they are second in the league in bullpen innings pitched.)

Chad Billingsley has emerged as the ace and proven to be capable of going 7-8 innings. After him, you rarely get more than 5-6 innings out of Hiroki Kuroda, Randy Wolf or Clayton Kershaw.

The Dodgers would love to get American League All-Star starter Roy Halladay as their ace, but the asking price of Billingsley or Kershaw is too high.

So, General Manager Ned Colletti will likely fill the void by adding a relief pitcher.

How does Manager Joe Torre grade his team at this point?

“Incomplete,” he told the Associated Press after Sunday’s 7-4 win vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. “That's the only thing I can give it at this point because the back half, just like in golf the back nine, is the toughest one to play. We're going to have to go out there and continue to live up to ourselves.”

Don’t be surprised if the Dodgers have a Tiger Woods-like back nine.

Padres can't catch a cold

When you look at the National League statistics, you will notice the Padres have the league’s top fielding percentage.

Go ahead and laugh.

Two “hits” that were mental errors and don’t show up in the fielding percentages were the Padres’ downfall in a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

With one out in the seventh inning, Delwyn Young hit a liner to right that Brian Giles said he lost in the Petco Park lights for a double.

Juan Pierre followed with a fly to left center that left fielder Justin Huber appeared to have all the way, then backed off and said he lost the ball in the lights for what was a single.

Hall of Fame broadcasters Jerry Coleman of the Padres and Vin Scully of the Dodgers both couldn’t emphasize enough that if those two fly balls were caught, the Dodgers would not have scored in the seventh.

But with the two bonuses, the Dodgers went on to score four runs in the seventh.

It figures this all happened in the seventh, because the Padres have been outscored 46-20 in that inning this season.

A couple other stats to chew on:

Khalil Greene is batting .159 with runners in scoring position.

The Padres have lost 21 games in which they led.

Perhaps their five-game winning streak before Tuesday was more a blip on the radar than a sign of things to come.

Padres aren't exactly a steal

While Mike Piazza was the primary catcher for the Padres in 2006, they allowed opponents to be successful on stolen bases an alarming 85 percent of the time.

Piazza has moved on to Oakland … but the percentage is even worse in San Diego this year. Through the first month of the season, the Padres have allowed an unbelievable 91 percent (31-of-34) of opponents to be safe on stolen base tries.

Ouch!

In comparison, the Padres aren’t exactly wearing out the basepaths, stealing 10 bases in 12 attempts.

Juan Pierre of the Dodgers has 12 steals by himself thus far. And these are the same Dodgers who were 6-for-6 in steal opportunities against San Diego last weekend.

The Padres probably aren’t going to run away in the NL West this season … and foot speed certainly has something to do with it!

How about those Dodgers?

If you remember the television show four decades ago called “Mr. Ed,” you’ll recall the star was a talking horse who often wore a Dodger hat because he lived in Los Angeles.
Whenever Mr. Ed got into trouble with his owner Wilbur Post, he would say: “How about those Dodgers?”
So, how about those 2007 Dodgers, who open a three-game home series tonight against the Padres? Like Mr. Ed, they could be known to cause a lot of trouble.
Or do you think a team with Brad Penny as its No. 4 starter is weak on pitching? Hardly, considering Penny started the 2006 Major League Baseball All-Star game for the National League.
Thus far, the Padres certainly have bullpen strength over the Dodgers. But the more one sees of Los Angeles closer Takashi Saito, the more it becomes obvious this guy throws a lot of 1-2-3 innings like Trevor Hoffman.
The Dodger lineup is certainly formidable with Rafael Furcal (hoping to return tonight from a sprained ankle) and Juan Pierre at the top. And it’s not bad in the middle with Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez. It’s easy to point out that the Dodgers are aging in the middle of their order, but the age factor could certainly point right back at Padres 40-something pitchers Greg Maddux and David Wells.
Padre nemesis Derek Lowe will start the series opener. Lowe is just 2-2 lifetime against the Padres but has a solid 2.37 ERA against them.
The Padres did win 13 of 18 last year against the Dodgers, including seven of nine in Los Angeles. San Diego always seems more fired up than the Dodgers when the teams meet.
If the Padres are to repeat as NL West champions, it may take another 13-5 record against the Dodgers. Why? Because the Dodgers seem to do much better when they’re not playing the Padres.