Quote:
Dodgers' rotation has the potential to be a definite strength
By Tim Kurkjian
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The best Dodgers teams of the past 50 years, and the best teams managed by Joe Torre, have been built predominantly on starting pitching. And now Torre is trying to do the same with the 2008 Dodgers. Los Angeles doesn't have a Sandy Koufax, and it doesn't have a Roger Clemens-Andy Pettitte-David Cone trio. But Torre's eyes twinkle when he says, "Our rotation has a chance to be pretty good."
It starts with Brad Penny, who finished third in the National League Cy Young voting last year. Then there's Derek Lowe. "I love Derek Lowe," Torre said. "With him, it's just 'Give me the ball and leave me out there until you think I'm tired.'" Then there's Chad Billingsley. "He's special," Torre said. Then there's Hiroki Kuroda, who made his spring debut Friday.
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ESPN.
I agree wholeheartedly with this article. I feel fairly confident that Penny, Lowe, and Billingsley can all win at least twelve games with ERAs of four or less. Schmidt, if healthy, could do the same. I'm a little iffy on Kuroda at this point - but I could definitely see a Dice-K type season (twelve-plus wins, ERA in the mid-4 range).