If last night's debacle in Arizona proved anything, it's that Ramon Troncoso does in fact exist. His 3.2 innings of mop-up duty following James McDonald's sudden and shocking exit were the lone bright spot in an otherwise dreary game.
It's not time to panic yet, but McDonald's short outing -- which started so well, with six consecutive batters retired -- was the extreme example of an ongoing problem so far this season: Dodger starting pitchers aren't going very far into games. As a group, they haven't pitched horribly -- a 4.31 FIP better than the 4.81 starter's ERA -- but there is certainly room for improvement.
The Dodgers are averaging only 4.87 innings per start. Again, we're only one time through the rotation, but still that's low. I figured many starters around baseball are suffering early thanks to the World Baseball Classic and extended spring, but the Dodgers' starters are among the worst in baseball in innings per start. Through Friday:
| Rank | Team | GS | IP | IP/start |
| 25) | Astros | 4 | 19.2 | 4.92 |
| 26) | Dodgers | 5 | 24.1 | 4.87 |
| 27) | Giants | 4 | 19.0 | 4.75 |
| 28) | Phillies | 4 | 18.2 | 4.67 |
| 29) | Indians | 4 | 15.1 | 3.83 |
| 30) | Nationals | 4 | 15 | 3.75 |
| Major League Average | 5.48 | |||
Could there be a worse time for the Dodgers to have a starter -- let alone their opening day starter -- go on the disabled list? Eric Stults was on his way to Pismo Beach, but he ended up in Arizona after missing a turn in Albuquerque. Instead, Stults will start this evening.
Arizona is having some pitching trouble as well. Yusmeiro Petit is starting for them tonight instead of their ace Brandon Webb, who is missing a start with a sore shoulder.
Tonight's game has a weird start time, 5:10pm. It is on Prime Ticket and, for those of you outside the Los Angeles television market, it is also on MLB Network.
Tony Jackson gives us the lineup, with Ethier and Loney switching places:
Furcal SS
Hudson 2B
Manny LF
Loney 1B
Martin C
Ethier RF
Kemp CF
Blake 3B
Stults P
Be sure to get your guesses in for the score of today's game here. Remember to include the final score of the game and the winning pitcher.