...and not just due to his girth. SI.com's Tom Verducci calls Penny the key Dodger to watch this year:
Dodgers: Brad Penny, P. The last we saw of Penny he was contributing only one inning out of the bullpen (and losing the game) in the Division Series loss to New York, this after posting his worst ERA (4.33) since '02. At 28, he ought to be better than that, hitting his prime just about now. Penny still flashes No. 1 stuff and will make the Dodger rotation formidable if he pitches to his ability.As spring training begins this week, every camp has the potential for at least one breakout player who, as far as the contenders are concerned, just might make the difference toward playing or golfing in October -- be they rookies, late-blooming journeymen or veterans trying to bounce back from injuries or poor seasons.
I found Verducci's comment interesting as I would have thought that the rotation would have other options should Penny not come through. Our batting lineup, on the other hand, needs everyone to play beyond expectations, or we're never going to score any runs. Maybe the importance of Penny is in his trade value?
3 comments:
Tom Verducci is a moron hack. I hate that he's SI's official baseball representative. I doubt he's ever watched an entire Dodger game, yet he writes about them as if he's some sort of authority. EVERY time he writes about the Dodgers, it's always half-assed and incorrect. I hate that guy. There was an article in SI a couple years back where he just blatantly made up a bunch of events at a Dodger game in Chicago. It was ridiculous. Now I'm all fired-up for the season.
PS, I really like the job you guys are doing on this site. It's already one of the best Dodger blogs, keep up the good work!
Hey CigarCow, thanks for your feedback, we really appreciate it. Would love to know what you like/dislike, or even what posts you liked. As you can probably tell, we're still getting our sea legs. If you have a chance, drop us an email with your thoughts (link on the front page).
But it's nice that you haven't put us with Verducci. Yet.
While you're at it, cigarcow, could you prepare a PowerPoint presentation evaluating our strengths and weaknesses? By tomorrow morning would be great, thanks.
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