Joe Torre has ended the weeks of speculation by naming Vicente Padilla as the Opening Day starter. He'll take the mound on Monday, April 5 in Pittsburgh.
The rotation will be followed by Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Kuroda. The fifth starter will then come, but he still hasn't been named yet.
This was a toss-up as far as whom to choose. It seemed like most people believed it was a battle between Padilla, Kershaw, and Kuroda (Billingsley just didn't end the year strong enough to be considered). In the end, Torre went with his hottest hand to close out last season.
If you're looking at spring stats, Padilla is actually the worst of the four. He's given up five runs in 10 innings, good for a 4.50 ERA. Kershaw has also gone 10 innings for a 1.80 ERA, Billingsley 9 2/3 innings for a 1.86 ERA, and Kuroda 14 1/3 innings for a 2.51 ERA. While it's only the spring, those numbers are still pretty encouraging.
Still, I like Padilla getting the ball. He proved last year that he can pitch in big games, as evidenced by two great starts in the playoffs against the Cardinals and Phillies. In the end, it's not really a big deal anyway who gets to pitch first, but it's a nice honor for Padilla, who's very much turned his career around in L.A.
As for the fifth starter, it seems to be a four horse battle: Russ Ortiz, Ramon Ortiz, Charlie Haeger, and Josh Towers. Carlos Monasterios looks like a favorite to stick with the team, but probably in the bullpen. Eric Stults looks like a dead man walking, as he wasn't even mentioned as being in the race.
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