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October 21, 2009

On the Beat

A Showdown Lowdown

by John Perrotto

The Dodgers are down to their last potential gasp of 2009, and while waiting to exhale, they will send Vicente Padilla to the mound tonight in the hope he can salvage their season. Such a scenario would have been unthinkable just two months ago; the Rangers designated the right-hander for assignment on August 7 despite being only one game behind the Red Sox in the wild-card standings, and 3½ games behind the Angels in the AL West.

The reason for Texas' discarding the veteran was that they had grown weary of Padilla, who was universally disliked in the clubhouse. Padilla was chronically late for pitching staff meetings, and sometimes decided not to participate at all. He seldom spoke to his teammates and drew the wrath of manager Ron Washington for frequently staying in the clubhouse during games to catch up on his e-mail and text messages rather than sitting in the dugout. The Rangers players reportedly were so happy with Padilla's dismissal that they broke into spontaneous applause when general manager Jon Daniels walked into the clubhouse on the day he was designated for assignment. Unable to find any team willing to trade for Padilla, the Rangers released him at the end of the 10-day DFA period. The Dodgers and Nationals reportedly were the only teams willing to sign Padilla as a free agent, though they only had to pay the approximately prorated $100,000 left on the minimum $400,000 salary, with the Rangers on the hook to pay the rest of his $12 million annual compensation.

Yet, Padilla now seems to be the Dodgers' best starting pitcher, and manager Joe Torre validated that idea by tabbing the 32-year-old to start Game Five of the National League Championship Series against the Phillies tonight in Philadelphia. The Dodgers are on the brink of elimination, as they trail 3-1 in best-of-seven series. Padilla had 1.2 SNLVAR and a .554 SNWP in seven regular-season starts for the Dodgers and has allowed only one run in 14 1/3 innings in the first two post-season starts of his 11-year career. He shut out the Cardinals for seven innings in Game Three of the Dodgers' sweep of their National League Division Series, and then allowed only one run in 7 1/3 innings against the Phillies in Game Two of the NLCS.

Though Clayton Kershaw started Game One against the Phillies and Padilla started Game Two, Torre has flip-flopped them in the rotation to take advantage of the hot hand, and also to let the 21-year-old pitch at Dodger Stadium in a potential Game Six; Kershaw had a 1.83 ERA at home in 88 1/3 innings during the regular season, compared to a 3.81 mark in 82 2/3 innings on the road. "We had the option of going one way or the other," Torre said. "I was set on Padilla because of his experience, because of how he pitched against St. Louis, how he pitched against this ballclub earlier, and he's on full rest."

Padilla had just 1.9 SNLVAR and a .490 SNWP in 18 starts for the Rangers this season, but the Dodgers' scouts believed he still had the stuff to be an effective pitcher in the weaker NL. General manager Ned Colletti was well aware of Padilla's reputation, which was stained by alcohol-related incidents earlier in his career, and did his due diligence in checking on his character. Colletti had two in-house sources, as third-base coach Larry Bowa managed Padilla with the Phillies and left-hander Randy Wolf was his rotation mate in Philadelphia. "I don't know what happened in Texas, but to me, he's a good teammate," Wolf told the Los Angeles Times. "He's quiet. He works hard. He does his work in between starts. He wants to win. He's been competitive. He's been a great pickup."