As most Dodger fans know by now, the 2014 season opener in Sydney, Australia forced the Dodgers (and Diamondbacks) the begin their spring training camps nearly two weeks earlier than every other MLB team and it is forcing them to conclude it a week earlier. In fact, the Dodgers will have played only 19 spring training games (plus two split-squad games) when they board their 15+ hour flight to Sydney late Sunday night in Phoenix – as compared to the 36 spring training games that they played last year.

During spring training 2013, Dodger fans were captivated by the emergence on (then) 22-year-old Cuban superstar Yasiel Puig who only hit .517 with 3 home runs and 11 RBIs. Dodger fans also got to enjoy some great hitting by Carl Crawford (.357), A.J. Ellis (.356), Hanley Ramirez (.333), Juan Uribe (.333) and Andre Ethier (.302) last spring.

No one will forget the historic spring training that Yasiel Puig had in 2013.
(Photo credit – Norm Hall)

But spring training 2014 is different, WAY different, and it is beginning to cause a little uneasiness among Dodger fans and perhaps even the Dodgers management.

Through 17 spring training games thus far (with only three remaining, plus an exhibition game in Australia, plus the three annual spring training Freeway Series exhibition games against the Angels), the line-up that has been picked by many to win the 2014 World Series is having a rather poor spring – VERY poor, in fact. Here are the current spring training stats for the Dodgers projected 2014 Opening Day line-up as of March 13:

While pundits may be quick to point out that spring training games are meaningless and that spring training is merely a time to make adjustments and fine tune skills, you simply cannot turn your back on these sub-par numbers – especially when most of these guys are making salaries that are larger than the annual budgets of most small countries. Could it be that some of these so-called heavy hitters have become so complacent or arrogant that they feel that working hard during meaningless spring training games is below them?

Having spent considerable time in the Dodgers clubhouse this spring I can pretty much assure you that the Dodgers lack of offense has nothing to do with complacency or arrogance – these guys are working very hard and are taking spring training very serious. So what, then, is the problem?

Through 17 games this spring only Andre Ethier and Adrian Gonzalez are hitting above .300.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although you will not find one single Dodger player or coach who will ever admit that the shortened spring training camp or pending Australia trip is the cause of their offensive struggles, nor will you ever hear them use it as excuse, it is hard to believe that it isn’t at least part of the problem – especially when you consider that, for the most part, the entire team is relatively healthy. Granted, there are a few guys still nursing their way back to health, most notably Matt Kemp, but aside from him nearly everyone appears the be healthy. So what else could it be that is causing the Dodgers offensive woes this spring?

Fortunately, the Dodgers starting rotation and their projected Opening Day bullpen staff appear to be fine. In fact, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-jin Ryu and Dan Haren pitched exceptionally well in their respective third starts of the spring this past week. Even Zack Greinke, who is coming back from a strained calf injury, looked pretty good on Wednesday, in spite of his rocky second inning. Greinke told reporters after his outing that he hopes to be ready when the team returns from Australia to open the real (domestic) regular season in San Diego March 30-April 2.

“Everybody had to get ready faster for Australia,” said Greinke. “I have to get ready for the American games. I’ve just got to get ready as fast as I can without a setback.”

The fifth spot in the rotation is also a bit of a concern for the Dodgers, even though it will not come into play until April 19. While it initially appeared that veteran right-hander and two-time World Series champion Josh Beckett had a lock on the spot, this is no longer a given after Beckett injured his right thumb when he smashed it in the clubhouse door over a week ago. The 33-year-old tried pitching with the injured thumb last week and gave up three home runs in two innings. In a subsequent bullpen session, Beckett was limited to throwing only fastballs. Beckett is slated to pitch in today’s game against the Cubs but you can bet that Dodgers manager Don Mattingly will have a short leash on the veteran right-hander. Regardless of the outcome of Beckett’s outing today, he will most likely begin the season on the 15-day DL which will be retroactive to March 16, so he will have plenty of time to heal prior to April 19.

Late acquisition Paul Maholm is also trying to land that fifth spot in the rotation but may have fallen out of favor when he was rocked for six runs (five earned) on six hits including a pair of home runs in his 2.2 innings of work in Thursday’s eventual 8-2 loss to the Reds. But as bad as Maholm was, his replacement Red Patterson, who was optioned to minor league camp less than a week ago, was absolutely brilliant, allowing no runs and only one hit in his 3.1 innings of work. In the 9.2 innings that Patterson has pitched this spring he has an outstanding 0.93 ERA. While there is virtually no chance that Patterson will make the Dodgers opening day roster as the fifth starter, you can bet that the Dodgers will be watching him very closely at Triple-A Albuquerque should they experience any issues with the starting rotation – especially early in the season.

Although Red Patterson has almost no chance of locking down the fifth spot in the Dodgers rotation, he was absolutely brilliant on Thursday afternoon. He also made an outstanding defensive play at first base. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Even though spring training stats rarely (if ever) translate into regular season numbers, it sure would be nice to at least see a little more offense out of the Dodger regulars in their remaining three spring training games – if for no other reason than to put Dodger fans at ease. It will also be nice when the upcoming Australia trip is behind the team so that they can focus on defending their 2013 NL West title.