The Dodgers will be moving a couple of their starters into the bullpen and that should really help the pitching staff as a whole.  37 year old righty Takashi Saito came out of nowhere when Eric Gagne went down and he was dominant as the closer of the Dodgers.  He was 6-2 with 7 holds, 24 saves, a 2.07 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP in 72 games for the Dodgers in 2006.  Batters were helpless against him as they only hit .177 (righties .129) and whiffed 107 times in 78.1 innings pitched!  Look for Saito to save 30+ games this season for the Dodgers.

22 year old righty Jonathan Broxton is a big boy that can really bring the ball to the plate.  He was 4-1 with 12 holds, 3 saves, a 2.59 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP in 68 games for the Dodgers in 2006.  Batters only hit .216 (righties .196) against him and he whiffed 97 batters in 76.1 innings!  His only weakness is he walks too many batters (33) but it didn’t stop him from dominating last season.

22 year old righty Chad Billingsley was 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP in 18 games (16 starts) for the Dodgers in 2006.  Batters hit .272 against Billingsley and he walked 58 batters in only 90 innings last season.  He will likely start the season in the bullpen but he’ll be ready to move into the rotation.  He better cut down on his walks if he wants to stay in the majors as his 3.80 ERA last season was very lucky with all of the batters he put on base.

Soon to be 30 year old lefty Joe Beimel had the best season of his career.  It’s a shame that he will be remembered mostly for hurting his pitching hand at a bar during the playoffs because he pitched really well last year.  He was 2-1 with 10 holds, 2 saves, a 2.96 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in 62 games for the Dodgers in 2006.  Batters hit .262 against him (lefties .234) but he limited the damage by only walking 21 batters in 70 innings last season.  Look for him to have another decent season as long as he stays out of the bars.

38 year old righty Rudy Seanez had a bad year in 2006 but the Dodgers are banking on him making a rebound.  He was 3-3 with 3 holds. a 4.92 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP in 49 games for the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres.  Seanez still has a strong arm as he whiffed 54 batters in 53 innings, but, he walked 32 batters and gave up 8 homers.  He will need to improve with his control if he wants to help the Dodgers in 2007.

26 year old righty Yhency Brazoban missed most of last season due to injury but the Dodgers hope to get him back sometime in the 2nd half of the season.  He only pitched 5 innings last season and he had a 5.40 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP.  Look for him to be a big help for the Dodgers if they can get him healthy.

After Jason Repko got injured the Dodgers acted quick and added a decent outfielder.  The soon to be 34 year old Brady Clark will back up at all three outfield posts and he should get a good chunk of playing time for the Dodgers.  He played in 138 games for the Brewers last season and he hit .263 with a .683 OPS.  Clark has a .278 career batting average with a .747 OPS so look for him to rebound and play well this season for LA.

Kuo will miss at least the first month of the season with a sore left shoulder.  That is a shame because Kuo was going to get his big chance to really show off what he’s got as a reliever for the Dodgers.

Jason Repko will have surgery on Wednesday to a severely injured groin and he will miss the entire 2007 season.  Repko had the Dodgers team made when he injured himself and that will cost him his big chance to prove himself.

The Dodgers rotation is at least 8 deep and that spells big trouble for the rest of the National League West.  34 year old righty was the big catch in free agency for the Dodgers over the winter.  He was 11-9 with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 32 starts for the San Francisco Giants in 2006.  Batters only hit .238 against Schmidt last season and he whiffed 180 batters in 213.1 innings so he still has great stuff.  It’s also good for the Dodgers to sign Schmidt away from the enemy San Francisco Giants.  Schmidt pitched 5.5 seasons for the Giants and he was 78-37 for them.  Look for Schmidt to be the ace the Dodgers have been looking for as he will win 15-18 games with an ERA of between 3.25-3.75 in 2007.

33 year old righty Derek Lowe will be the #2 starter for the Dodgers this season.  He was 16-8 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 35 games (34 starts) for the Dodgers in 2006.  Lowe cut his homers allowed from 28 in 2005 to only 14 in 2004 and that paid off with an improved record.  Lowe has always had good control and keeps the ball down and that’s the reason for the success he’s had over his career.  Expect Lowe to win 15-17 games with a 3.50-3.90 ERA in 2007.

28 year old righty Brad Penny will be the #3 starter for the Dodgers this season.  He was 16-9 with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP in 34 games (33 starts) for the Dodgers in 2006.  Penny had a good first half, but he was awful in the second half.  Batters hit .279 against Penny last season but he didn’t walk many batters and that minimized the damage for him last season.  Look for Penny to win 12-14 games with an ERA of 4.15-4.50 in 2007.

30 year old lefty Randy Wolf was signed as a free agent to serve as the Dodgers #4 starter this season.  He was 4-0 with a 5.56 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP in 12 starts last season for the Philadelphia Phillies.  Batters hit .285 against him and he allowed too many walks (33) and homers (13) in only 56.2 innings.  Look for Wolf to improve on all of those numbers as he was injured most of last season.  Look for Wolf to win 10-12 games with an ERA of 4.00-4.50 in 2007.

34 year old righty Brett Tomko will battle for the #5 starting job on the Dodgers.  He was 8-7 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP in 44 games (15 starts) for the Dodgers last season.  Tomko had hitters bat .276 against him with 17 homers in only 112.1 innings last year.  Tomko did a good job of throwing strikes and that will pay off for him this season whether he’s starting or relieving for the Dodgers in 2007.

32 year old lefty Mark Hendrickson will also try to win the #5 starter job for the Dodgers.  He was 6-15 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 31 games (25 starts) in 2006 for the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Hendrickson didn’t pitch to well for the Dodgers last season and they are trying to trade him.  The fact that he’s lefthanded makes him still a valuable commodity in 2007 for the Dodgers or someone else.

22 year old righty Chad Billingsley was 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP in 18 games (16 starts) for the Dodgers in 2006.  Batters hit .272 against Billingsley and he walked 58 batters in only 90 innings last season.  He will likely start the season in the bullpen but he’ll be ready to move into the rotation.  He better cut down on his walks if he wants to stay in the majors as his 3.80 ERA last season was very lucky with all of the batters he put on base.

25 year old lefty Hong-Chih Kuo was 1-5 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in 28 games (5 starts) for the Dodgers in 2006.  Kuo held batters to a .244 batting average and he whiffed 71 batters in 59.2 innings.  Kuo has nasty stuff and he’s lefthanded which makes him very valuable whether he’s starting or relieving.  He will pitch good for the Dodgers this season but his role will be determined in Spring Training.