There are 25 days until the Dodgers MLB opener in Australia, 33 days until their domestic opener in San Diego, and 38 days until their home opener at Dodger Stadium against the San Francisco Giants.
The regular season is approaching, yet seems so far off in the distance. At least there is Spring Training to hold us over, and on Wednesday, the Dodgers took the field for their first exhibition game.
They faced their divisional rival, and opening day opponent, the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields. Sure it is a meaningless game, but still -- Baseball! Even if you did not watch the game, the prospect of live baseball is exciting.
Clayton Kershaw took the mound for two innings, giving up five hits and three runs on 42 pitches. Nothing to worry about, the two-time NL Cy Young did not have a great record last Spring either and we know how much that mattered.
Four expected starters were in the Dodger lineup: Carl Crawford, Yasiel Puig, Juan Uribe, and Alexander Guerrero. Major-league backups Scott Van Slyke, and Tim Federowicz also got the start.
The rest of the lineup was made up of players fighting to make the Opening Day roster like Chone Figgins, and Michael Turner. Joc Pederson wsa the ninth man in the lineup, but he is most likely starting the season in the minors.
The Dodgers lost the Spring Training opener 4-1. With 20 games left in Spring Training before heading to Australia, there is still a lot of tuning up and position battles left to play out.
