Call this one a hunch. The Dodgers brought in Vicente Padilla from the Rangers last week. This could be a brilliant move by Ned Colletti, as Padilla is an established veteran who could really add to the rotation.

That’s the upside. The downside is that he has a history of pitching inside, and most recently for being a “head hunter” and purposly throwing at people. Different people have different accounts, but part of the reason he was released by Texas was because of his attitude in the clubhouse and his history of throwing at people.

So – you do the math. You have a guy who naturally throws inside, probably does throw at people when he feels they deserve it, and now will be pitching for the Dodgers against the Giants later this month in a heated rivalry.

Yeah. It’s going to happen. There have already been two bench clearing skirmishes in the last two years, so I can easily see a third.

Hopefully Vincente will pitch well and add a little energy to the boys in the blue. They are slipping a little and the Rockies are coming too fast. The Dodgers need Manny and their offense to come around, and they need to at least take the last game with Colorado this week. They played well last night, now they just need to finish tonight and win the series to prove they are still the better team.

So you heard it hear first. Vincente Padilla will cause a brawl with the Giants…even if he isn’t trying to.

Vincente Padilla - L.A. Times

Juan Pierre - Andrew Carpenean - US Presswire

I exaggerate a little, but with an 8-0 win over the Giants last night, the Dodgers still look good. Even more, Pierre is on fire. We’ve all watched him a lot the last few years, and it seemed that every time I watched him, he grounded out weakly to the second baseman. Not now. I don’t know if he’s just in a groove, or has just waited so long to play that he has something to prove; either way, he’s hot. I love the way he is hitting the gaps right now.

High props to Eric Stults last night and to Ned Colletti. The Dodgers pitching is not bad at all. Actually they have the 3rd best ERA in the National League right now. The Dodgers management definitely knew the pitching would hold, even when everyone else doubted. If Eric Stults can put together a few more of these starts, the Dodgers will continue to do well.

So here’s my only gripe from last night, and it has been that way for the last few years. Why can’t the Dodgers run the bases? I mean, they teach how to run the bases in little league, don’t they have a coach who can teach it in the pros? How many times have you seen the Dodgers get thrown out at second trying to stretch a single…just this year? And I’m not talking close ones. Ones where they are caught up in a run-down because they had no business to chance it. Matt Kemp and Russell Martin are the biggest offenders. I guess when you have the speed they do, they assume they can pull it off. We all know what happens when you assume.

Anyway, the rubber match is tonight against Lincecum. Here’s hoping Jeff Weaver can continue to rebound back to form and make a game of it. Either way, I’m sure Pierre will be up for the challenge. I’ve never heard of a team batting a lead off guy 9th, but when you have 3 leadoff men, batting them back to back to back is pretty cool.

By the way, if you haven’t signed up to receive these posts by e-mail, add your e-mail address to the box in the upper right. It’s an easy way to get the posts without having to check back to the site as often.  Also, don’t forget to confirm it when you get an e-mail in your inbox.   I’ve had a few people who sign up, but then don’t confirm it in their inbox, so they don’t get the posts.

Go Blue.

Dodgers Mob James Loney - Brian Vander Brug - LA Times.com

I was gone for a few days to go see the Dodgers in L.A., and when I got back a Giants fan I work with told me that he was hoping that I didn’t get back until Thursday.  With the beating the Giants took on Monday, he hoped I was gone at least until the second game of the series, hoping the Giants would win and level out the series.  He felt if the Giants won game two, that he could point out that Monday was just one game, and wasn’t all that significant.

Well – sorry Jon.  No luck.  I came back, AND the Dodgers won game two.  The Dodgers are still better.  He even told me yesterday that the Giants were better than the Dodgers because all time they still have a better winning percentage than the Dodgers.

Again – sorry Jon.  Maybe so, but this year so far is all Dodgers.

I’m not sure if Dodger fans are aware of this, but Matt Cain is still 0-6 lifetime against the Dodgers.  He always pitches them well, but continues to come away with a loss.  It really became obvious last year when he consistently held them to less than 3 runs, but then once he left the game, the Dodgers beat the bullpen and won the game.  Last night Casey Blake got the best of him, but he pitched well…the Dodgers just beat the bullpen.

Got to love Casey Blake and Clayton Kershaw.  Blake is the 8 hitter and has 3 homeruns.  He may hit 30 this year.  Kershaw strikes out 13 and looks brilliant.  Running tally – the Giants have struck out 24 times out of 54 at bats in 2 games.  That has to be rough for a pitching coach.  Between Stults, Wolf, Billingsley and Kershaw, Ned Colletti obviously knew something more about the pitching staff than we all did.  They could still use one more arm, but they look great right now.

You could have an interesting debate as to if Loney was trying for walks in two of his at bats last night, including the one to win the game.  He stared down multiple beautiful fastballs, and then took the walks.  You could say he was afraid to hit and wanted the walk, or you could say he just knew the pitchers would end up throwing balls, and therefore he just let them do it.

I don’t buy that he was afraid to hit as he has been hitting the ball like crazy the last few days.  I think he’s just a smart hitter who knew the power of a walk, and was going to let the pitchers do it if they couldn’t throw strikes. How bitterly sweet that the Giants walked in the winning run.

Brian Wilson is a good closer, so tough luck to him, but to the Dodgers gain.  Even if the Dodgers lose tonight, the series has been won.

To conclude the Top 7 Things Learned at Camelback Ranch, I thought I would have some fun and give a quiz. Part of the fun of going to Spring Training is seeing the players up close, and trying to recognize them outside of uniform. Here’s a little test to see if you can pick out the players. I’ll try to start easy and get harder. Answers at the bottom.

A)

B)

C)

D)

E) (Hard One)

So, how did you do?

Here’s the answers:

A) Jason Schmidt B) Randy Wolf C) Blake DeWitt  D) Ned Colletti  E) Andre Ethier (left) and Don Mattingly (Right)

Thanks for the memories Camelback Ranch.  Great First Season and we’ll see you next year.

Continuing my list of the Top 7 Things learned at Camelback Ranch, here is Item #5.

So if you ever want Ned Colletti to stop signing other people’s stuff and come over and talk to you, here’s a great way to do it.

First, go to Don & Charlies for food in Scottsdale.

Second, order the dish named after him, “Ned Colletti’s Chicken Schnitzel.”

Chicken Schnitzel Menu

Ned Colletti's Chicken Schnitzel

Third, when waiting for a Ned Autograph, tell him that you liked his Chicken Schnitzel.

My Buddy with Ned

My friends stumbled upon this process and Ned stopped giving autographs to other people and came over and talked to him about why it was named that.

Fun story, and I bet it will work a second time.

Next up on the List:

You Never Know Who You Are Going to See at Camelback Ranch