33-year old lefty starting pitcher Randy Wolf is having perhaps the best season of his major league career this year. He has started 28 games for the Dodgers this season and he is 9-6 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Wolf has only allowed 149 hits n 177 innings this season while whiffing 133 batters which really shows how well he has pitched this year. The Dodgers really need him to pitch well in his last 5-6 starts if they are going to hold off the Rockies and Giants in the N.L. West.

27-year old lefty swinging outfielder Andre Ethier is tearing the cover off the baseball as he is having a “career” year. He has played in 129 games for the Dodgers so far this season and he is 139 for 488 (.285 avg, .906 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 27 homers, 87 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Ethier already has career highs in both homers and RBIs as he is one of the biggest reasons that the Dodgers are still in first place in the National League West. The Dodgers need him to finish the season strong.

The Dodgers have acquired 34-year old righty swinging infielder Ronnie Belliard from the Nationals for 22-year old righty reliever Luis Garcia and a player to be named later. Belliard can handle 1B, 2B and 3B defensively so he should be able to find some ABs in September for the Dodgers. Belliard played in 86 games for the Nationals this season and he was 46 for 187 (.246 avg, .670 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 5 homers, 22 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,378 games in his major league career and he is 1,315 for 4,806 (.274 avg, .753 OPS) with 648 runs scored, 107 homers, 565 RBIs and 40 stolen bases. Belliard is a solid player to add to the Dodgers’ bench and the price was right. Luis Garcia was not one of the top 30 prospects in the Dodgers’ system coming into this season according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 34 games (0 starts) in A-ball this season and he was 5-3 with 5 saves, a 2.92 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.

The Dodgers have signed 31-year old righty starting pitcher Vicente Padilla to a minor league deal. Padilla pitched in 18 games (all starts) earlier this season and he was 8-6 with a 4.92 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He has now pitched in 297 games (214 starts) in his major league career and he is 94-85 with 2 saves, a 4.36 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. This was a outstanding low risk pickup for the Dodgers as Padilla will likely slide right into the starting rotation.

The Dodgers have acquired 25-year old righty reliever Harvey Garcia from the Pirates for either a player to be named later or cash. Garcia has pitched in 12 games (0 starts) in Rookie + A-ball this season for the Pirates and he was 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. Garcia whiffed 19 batters in 15 innings while only allowing 8 hits as he is showing good stuff against inferior competition. Garcia has also pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in his major league career in which he is 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. But, Garcia has whiffed 15 batters in only 12 1/3 innings in his major league career. This was a good low risk/high reward trade for the Dodgers as Garcia was once a very bright prospect for the Marlins and Red Sox.