Dodgers synopsis

The Dodgers haven’t been doing too bad this season (35-28), at third in the Western Division that has turned out to be one of the best in the Majors this year. Below is a position summery as to what we can look forward to tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday:

(C) Russell Martin - Martin has been everything that the Dodgers could hope for. Hitting .299, with 7 home runs, 40 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases, Martin, in my eyes is seen as the one player the Mets have to shut down in order to beat the Dodgers.

(1B) Nomar Garciaparra – What a power outage. Nomar is hitting .273, with only 1 home run, 34 runs batted in and one stolen base. He’s, so far, a shadow of the player he used to be. Is it age catching up with the injury prone first baseman? I guess only time will tell.

(2B) Jeff Kent – Kent isn’t having the year he would love, but it will do. Hitting .265, to go along with 9 home runs, 33 runs batted in and 1 stolen base, Kent is due for a production surge. He’s a career .289 hitter, so let’s just hope that he doesn’t surge against the Mets in this series.

(SS) Rafael Furcal – Furcal’s having a pretty decent year at the plate. Although his power numbers have disappeared. He’s hitting .294, with 23 runs batted in and 7 stolen bases. The Mets know to always be cautious when he’s coming to bat.

(3B) Olmedo Saenz – Saenz has definitely hit the wall running this year. He’s only hitting .216, has 3 home runs and 10 runs batted in. I’m not saying he’ll be an easy out, just don’t count on him to steal the winning base.

(LF) Luis Gonzalez – Gonzo’s having a superb year for a player his age. He’s at a .293 batting average, 8 home runs, 26 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases. The Mets are going to have to be careful against this crafty veteran.

(CF) Juan Pierre – Pierre is having a typical year for him. Hitting .271, with 13 runs batted in and 19 stolen bases. Mets pitchers are going to have to be wary of him on the base path if he happens to get on.

(RF) Andre Ethier – In his sophomore year, Ethier, isn’t doing as bad as some of the other 2 year vets, but he still isn’t matching last year’s production. He’s batting .263, with 5 home runs and 23 runs batted in.

So in a nut shell, the Dodgers probably aren’t going to beat the Mets with the long ball, but rather, with a lot of hit and run, stolen bases and small ball. Let’s see if the Mets are up to the challenge, because I don’t think I can take much more Yankees praise.