Nomar will be back on Friday

*** UPDATE ***

I guess we all were wrong about Nomar's return date, because he's playing 3rd base and hitting in the #7 spot tonight. In fact, he just drew a walk in his 1st AB of the year.

***

Nomar Garciaparra will return from the DL on Friday and join the Dodgers in Atlanta. He has been sitting out since March 7 when St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle McClellen beaned him in the right hand. After initially thinking it would be a day-to-day injury, it turned out to be 5 weeks. Coincidentally, this was the same game that Andy LaRoche was hurt and lost for 2 months. Rough day.

Now that Nomar will be back, 2 questions will be asked: 1) What will happen to Blake DeWitt? 2) Who will be optioned to the minors? First things first, I firmly believe that DeWitt will remain with the big club. He's hitting .261 with 5 RBI and a stolen base. However, he has been praised for his slick glove work, which is the most important thing. Heck, the guy had his hometown of Sikeston, MO name the month of April in his honor. How can you send him down now?

Since I don't believe it'll be DeWitt to get optioned, that brings us to question #2. As of now, both Esteban Loaiza and Chan Ho Park are the long relievers, so one of them could get sent back. After Loaiza's sparkling performance last night, it would have to be Park if either of the 2 are sent back down. Another option is Ramon Troncoso, who's given up 6 runs in 5.2 innings for a 9.53 ERA. His days could be numbered.

My take is that DeWitt should absolutely NOT be sent back down. He has played his way to at least a platoon player for the time being. If the Dodgers are that high on Troncoso, then it should be Park. They really don't need 2 long relievers considering their starting staff is capable of pitching deep into games each night.