The Dodgers drafted Ted Lilly in the 23rd round in 1996, but he never made his way to Los Angeles. Lilly was part of the package sent to Montreal to get Carlos Perez and Mark Grudzielanek in 1998. Then, 12 years later, Lilly found his way home when the Dodgers sent Blake DeWitt, Brett Wallach, and Kyle Smit for Lilly, Ryan Theriot and cash. Lilly, who was born in Torrance, welcomed himself to the Dodgers almost unlike any other. Lilly won his first five starts as a Dodger, one shy of Kaz Ishii's club record to start a Dodger career.
In his brief time with the Dodgers, Lilly was well received, and was quickly re-signed before fully having the chance to explore free agency. Lilly is a flyball pitcher, and home runs are his big bugaboo. Despite only being a Dodger for two months last season, Lilly's 13 home runs allowed were just two off the club lead.
Trivia
Lilly is tied for third in the NL with 84 quality starts in the last four years. Only Tim Lincecum (90) and Matt Cain (88) have more quality starts among NL pitchers during that span.
Contract Status
Lilly signed as a free agent, a three-year deal worth $33 million.
Stats
| Year | Age | IP | BB/9 | K/9 | ERA | FIP | x-FIP | tERA | ERA+ |
| 2008 |
32 | 204.2 | 2.81 | 8.09 | 4.09 | 4.41 | 4.14 | 4.99 | 113 |
| 2009 |
33 | 177.0 | 1.83 | 7.68 | 3.10 | 3.65 | 3.98 | 3.77 | 144 |
| 2010 |
34 | 193.2 | 2.04 | 7.71 | 3.62 | 4.27 | 4.16 | 4.21 | 115 |
| 2011 Projections - Age 35 Season | |||||||||
| Year | IP | BB/9 | K/9 | ERA | FIP | ||||
| Bill James | 212.0 | 2.80 | 7.64 | 3.65 | 4.35 | ||||
| Marcel | 175.0 | 2.31 | 7.66 | 3.63 | 4.00 | ||||
| Baseball HQ | 203.0 | 2.20 | 7.90 | 3.81 | |||||
| ZiPS | 183.1 | 2.21 | 8.05 | 3.44 | |||||
2011 Outlook
I'll guess Lilly provides depth in the rotation, putting up a 3.70 ERA in 200 innings.
What is your prediction? Be sure to guess Lilly's ERA, number of innings pitched for the Dodgers, plus anything else you would like to predict.