Southern Cali Sports

What a huge disappointment Jason Schmidt was this year!

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed the starting pitcher to a $47 million dollar 3 year contract this off-season and were rewarded with 1 victory and a 6.31 ERA!

Unbelievable!

For those that don’t know, Schmidt had shoulder surgery on Wednesday and will be out the rest of this season…

It looks like Chad Billingsley will get the 1st shot at replacing Schmidt in the rotation and if you ask me the Los Angeles Dodgers  now have to make some kind of move (trade) if they want to make any kind of noise in the post season.

Without Jason Schmidt, the LA Dodgers have a very average rotation. Here’s what it looks like now:

Derek Lowe

Brad Penny

Randy Wolf

Hong-Chih Kuo

Chad Billingsley

Their last 2 starters (Billingsley and Kuo) are unproven, Wolf is a soft tossing lefty who’s had an uncharacteristically good year and Brad Penny is known for struggling in the 2nd half of the season.

Don’t get me wrong this is still a very good pitching staff but let’s not forget that the Dodgers don’t have an intimidating power hitter in their lineup and they were counting on the strength of their starting rotation to carry them in the playoffs.

What really concerns me is #2 pitcher Brad Penny.

He’s been great so far this year (9-1) but he’s collapsed in the 2nd half of the season before and now there’s even more pressure for him to pitch well now that Jason Schmidt has gone down.

Posted by: Dodgers Baseball Talk