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LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are having trouble getting on a roll and the culprit, surprisingly, has been herky-jerky starting pitching.

Clayton Kershaw dominated Sunday. Ted Lilly stunk up the place Monday. Hyun-Jin Ryu dealt Tuesday. Josh Beckett looked like he didn't want to throw the ball Wednesday evening, setting a discordant tone in the Dodgers' 7-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Beckett seemed frozen in amber for the early innings, launching the game on a glacial pace and putting Dodgers' defenders on their heels. The team showed some fight, but never really recovered.

The first three innings were drawn out over nearly two hours, much of that time Beckett simply staring in at catcher A.J. Ellis' mitt. He spotted Colorado a 3-0 lead when he allowed the first four batters of the game to reach base (one of them on a routine grounder that clanked off Hanley Ramirez’s glove for an error).

Beckett lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks.

One month into the season, Beckett (0-4, 5.24 ERA) still is looking for his first win. He has had some good starts, notably that April 14 masterpiece in Arizona, but he has also failed to get through six innings in four of his six starts. The Dodgers are 1-5 when he pitches.

His short outing put some more weight on the Dodgers’ bullpen, which had to soak up six innings in a 12-2 loss Monday and had to mop up for Beckett two days later.

Ramirez was a little slow at times, too, such as when he stood at home plate admiring his opposite-field "home run" in the bottom of the first inning. It wasn’t a home run. The ball landed on the warning track and Ramirez had to kick it into gear to pull into second base standing up.

One encouraging trend has been the rapid return of Ramirez’s hitting. After missing nearly six weeks recovering from thumb surgery, Ramirez has two doubles and a home run and is 5-for-9 in two starts. In the team's other 25 games, all other Dodgers shortstops combined have two extra-base hits.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken this decision about as far as they can go.

It has been five days since Mark Ellis left a game because of a strained right quadriceps and he continues to feel something when he runs. Now that Carl Crawford is also nursing an injury -- a tight right hamstring -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says he is increasingly uncomfortable carrying two injured players on the 25-man roster.

It appears Ellis will go on the 15-day disabled list Friday when the Dodgers activate pitcher Clayton Kershaw from the bereavement list to pitch that night in San Francisco. Kershaw has been in Dallas to be with his family after the death of his father.

Crawford was out of the lineup for a second straight day Wednesday, but Mattingly said his injury doesn't appear serious enough to merit a stint on the DL. Ellis (.342) and Crawford (.308) were two of the hotter Dodgers hitters before the injuries.

To try to spark some action at the top of his lineup, Mattingly inserted Hanley Ramirez in the No. 2 spot. Ninety percent of Ramirez's at-bats last season came in the Nos. 3 through 5 spots in the lineup. Mattingly said he doesn't anticipate leaving Ramirez in the second spot permanently.

Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was back in Colorado's lineup after missing two games following a hand injury from an awkward headfirst slide into home plate in Sunday's game.

Here are the rest of Wednesday's lineups:

Colorado
1. Eric Young RF
2. Dexter Fowler CF
3. Carlos Gonzalez LF
4. Troy Tulowitzki SS
5. Michael Cuddyer 1B
6. Wilin Rosario C
7. Nolan Arenado 3B
8. Josh Rutledge 2B
9. Juan Nicasio RHP

Dodgers
1. Nick Punto 2B
2. Hanley Ramirez SS
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. A.J. Ellis C
7. Skip Schumaker LF
8. Juan Uribe 3B
9. Josh Beckett RHP

LOS ANGELES -- After the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, Dodgers employees ushered pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu back onto the field, where he traded memorabilia and posed for photo ops with global YouTube sensation Psy, known in the two mens' native South Korea as Park Jae-Sang.

Afterward, Psy -- his hair lacquered down, dark sunglasses over his eyes -- burst into the Dodgers' clubhouse with "Gangnam Style" blaring, prompting an uproar from Dodgers players. It was a bit of a circus. Imagine if the Dodgers had lost.

"I'm just really thankful that the game turned out the way it did. It would have been a really different situation if it had gone the other way," Ryu said through an interpreter afterward.

Everybody was in the mood for a little bouncy Korean pop music because of Ryu. He zapped the hangover from Monday's miserable 12-2 loss and buzzed through a tired and befuddled Rockies lineup, piling up 12 strikeouts.

Some people thought Ryu would struggle with the transition to a tougher league and a different culture. If anything, he's taking it to major league hitters, not the other way around.

Ryu touched 93 mph a couple of times early in the game, setting a tone that allowed him to use changeups and curveballs to greater effect later. The Dodgers have been impressed -- not so much with his raw stuff, but with his craftiness.

He often works backward. He can use breaking balls to get back in counts. He's hard to predict. For a 26 year old who was basically the Randy Johnson of the Korean Baseball Organization, he has shown surprising finesse.

"Especially if you get a younger guy who doesn't understand how the guy yo-yo's you a little bit, it's going to be trouble for you," manager Don Mattingly, seeing it from a hitter's perspective, said.

Ryu signed with the Dodgers just four months ago. He has made six major league starts, going 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA and 46 strikeouts in them. He might not feel entirely acclimated yet, but he's showing no signs of culture shock.

"I realize I'm in America every time I start. Every time I take the mound, I see how big these parks are and how many people come out," Ryu said. "But everything's been going well, and I'm really happy."

LOS ANGELES -- A night after playing their worst game of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally looked like the total package.

Korean pop star Psy danced in the aisle next to the Dodgers' dugout (in front of a bored-looking Tommy Lasorda) in the fourth inning. All the while, his countryman, Hyun-Jin Ryu, was tying the Colorado Rockies in knots. Ryu struck out 12 batters in six innings of the Dodgers' 6-2 win in front of 47,602 fans at Dodger Stadium.

It certainly appears Ryu is making a comfortable transition from the Korean Baseball Organization. He is 3-1 with a 3.35 ERA after six starts, and he has just one fewer strikeout than ace Clayton Kershaw's 47 (with two fewer walks).

Ryu's dozen strikeouts were the most by a Dodgers rookie since another pitcher, Hideo Nomo, was making the leap from Japan. Nomo struck out 13 New York Mets on Aug. 20, 1995.

Meanwhile, Hanley Ramirez returned to the Dodgers' lineup -- on the night the Dodgers gave away his "I See You" bobbleheads -- and had a home run and double.

The Dodgers' offense has a deeper look with Ramirez back in the fold. It swarmed all over Colorado pitcher Jorge De La Rosa, improving to 8-0 against the left-hander by scoring six runs in the first three innings. Two scrappy utility guys, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Nick Punto, set the table at the top of the order, and the larger guys behind them cleared it.

Matt Kemp finally cut down his swing and had an RBI single in the first inning. Ramirez hit a towering solo home run to left in the third inning and lined a double to center in the fourth.

Ramirez had played in just two minor league rehab games after missing about five weeks recovering from surgery to his right thumb. He did look a bit awkward at times making throws from shortstop while wearing a flexible splint on his right hand.

UPDATE (6:25 p.m.): The Dodgers activated Hanley Ramirez from the 15-day disabled list and placed Clayton Kershaw on the bereavement list for an undisclosed personal matter. Ramirez was not in the starting lineup.

LOS ANGELES -- After two rehab games in Class A Rancho Cucamonga, Hanley Ramirez returned to Los Angeles and joined his teammates in the Dodgers' clubhouse Monday.

He was not expected to join them on the field at game time, however. Ramirez could be taken off the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday (his bobblehead night), or he could still play in more minor league games, manager Don Mattingly said. Ramirez made his wishes fairly clear before Monday's series opener vs. the Colorado Rockies.

"I just want to be in there," Ramirez said. "I don't want to wait any longer. I'm a gamer. I just want to be in there and I think I can play."

Ramirez went 3-for-6 without an error in his two games playing shortstop in Rancho Cucamonga. He said throwing with a newly fitted splint is a bit awkward, but workable.

"It's not 100 percent, but I can defend myself on the field," Ramirez said.

The Dodgers have not made up their minds on whether to put Mark Ellis on the DL. He left Friday night's game with a strained right quadriceps and has been making steady progress since.

Also, pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who struck out 12 Milwaukee Brewers in eight shutout innings Sunday, was not with the Dodgers Monday. He was attending to an undisclosed personal matter, Mattingly said. The manager said he doesn't anticipate Kershaw missing his next scheduled start on Friday night in San Francisco.

Here are lineups for Monday:

Colorado
1. Dexter Fowler CF
2. Jordan Pacheco 1B
3. Carlos Gonzalez LF
4. Wilin Rosario C
5. Michael Cuddyer RF
6. Nolan Arenado 3B
7. Josh Rutledge 2B
8. Jonathan Herrera SS
9. Tyler Chatwood RHP

Dodgers
1. Carl Crawford LF
2. A.J. Ellis C
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
4. Matt Kemp CF
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. Skip Schumaker 2B
7. Luis Cruz 3B
8. Justin Sellers SS
9. Ted Lilly LHP

LOS ANGELES -- A couple of days ago, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said a Monday return for All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez would be "a little optimistic." Then, Saturday happened.

Playing in a game at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, Ramirez went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, fielded eight grounders and turned three double plays, with no issues making throws from shortstop while wearing a splint on his surgically repaired right thumb. After watching film of the performance, Mattingly said Sunday Ramirez could return from the disabled list before Monday's series opener against the first-place Colorado Rockies.

"I think anything's possible with the way he looked last night," Mattingly said.

Rancho Cucamonga is off Monday, so Ramirez would have to travel to Albuquerque to continue his minor league rehabilitation assignment, or travel to Stockton to stay with the Quakes. If Ramirez is activated Monday, he will have beaten the original prognosis by two weeks.

Ramirez played winter ball all the way through the Caribbean Series, then played in the World Baseball Classic before injuring his thumb in the finals on March 19. Mattingly thinks those competitive at-bats have speeded his return, allowing him to regain his timing faster than he otherwise would have.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers continue to wait on second baseman Mark Ellis, who left Friday night's game with a strained right quadriceps. They could place Ellis on the 15-day disabled list while activating Ramirez Monday or Tuesday.

"I don't want to ever miss any time," Ellis said. "At the same time, you never want to handcuff a manager or your team."

LOS ANGELES -- Just days from getting their starting shortstop back, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost their starting second baseman Friday night.

Veteran Mark Ellis pulled up with a strained right quadriceps while trying to leg out a groundball to third base in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 7-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. Ellis is scheduled for an MRI exam Saturday, but manager Don Mattingly said it appears to be an injury that will land Ellis on the 15-day disabled list.

"I want to be optimistic, but usually you see a guy come out and pull up like that, it's usually something that's not going to be a day or two," Mattingly said.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez is set to begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment Saturday in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and could return to the Dodgers' lineup as early as Tuesday.

Ellis, 35, is batting .342 and is among the most steady second basemen in the major leagues.

The math is elementary. Eight minus four equals worrisome.

The Los Angeles Dodgers figured they had eight starting pitchers when they got back from Arizona. Seven of them made the Opening Day roster and one, Ted Lilly, would continue building up his arm strength while on the disabled list.

It wasn’t ideal, particularly for the players involved, but it was reassuring. The Dodgers were protected against three injuries to starting pitchers. How many other teams could say that?

But that state of equilibrium couldn’t hold. The Dodgers were pressured to trade Aaron Harang when they couldn’t find any way to use him. So, now they were protected against injuries to two of their pitchers. Still pretty good.

And then they got three injuries to starting pitchers in 10 days. Chad Billingsley was put on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with pain in the same elbow that put him on the DL twice last season. Once again, it appears as if he might be headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery. Perhaps they’ll go with the platelet-rich plasma therapy again, but that clearly didn’t work the first time.

Billingsley will be evaluated in Los Angeles Tuesday and, presumably, pick an option by the middle of next week.

Zack Greinke is already on the DL with a broken left collarbone and Chris Capuano is there with a strained left calf.

So, now, Steven Fife – who had to deal with all sorts of frustration in spring training stuck behind eight pitchers on guaranteed contracts -- is forced into action. The Dodgers are lucky they have a guy like him, a strike thrower with some major-league success. He had a 4.61 ERA in Triple-A, but that’s not all that bad when you’re pitching in the high desert.

Now, he just has to pick up that first major-league win.

For a team with the payroll and expectations of the Dodgers, these are the moments that can feel like that long pause before the roof caves in. And it just might. They had lost six in a row coming into Sunday. They aren’t hitting well enough to support mediocre pitching. The only night they’re guaranteed they won’t get that is when Clayton Kershaw jogs to the mound and they’ve offered Kershaw virtually no run support so far.

It is a moment of crisis. The way a team reacts to those -- and it’s rare that, over a six month season, a few don’t arrive -- can determine its postseason fate.

Forget about who can replace Billingsley in the rotation. To hold the line until Zack Greinke returns, perhaps in mid-June, the Dodgers have to hit. They will, at least better than they have so far. It's impossible to think they'll stay this bad, isn't it?

They entered Sunday 29^th in the majors in runs scored. That is both ridiculous, given what they’re paying these hitters, and likely unsustainable. Matt Kemp will either get it going or be asked to take a step back and let his shoulder heal more fully on the disabled list. Hanley Ramirez could be back in a couple of weeks, which might be a mixed blessing. His bat offers far more than Justin Sellers’, but his glove offers far less.

The Dodgers have been getting runners on base. What they’ve lacked is scoring hits, specifically home runs and hits with runners in scoring position. The resumes of their hitters suggest those trends won’t stay stuck on empty all year.

So, the Dodgers might want to tap into the vibe from early last season, when they won despite a bunch of no names. This team, depleted as it is, still has more talent every day it gets dressed.

They can either rally back from the bad luck or wallow in pity. Given their payroll, much of the country would love nothing more than to watch this team fail spectacularly.

“Nobody is going to sit there and feel sorry for us,” manager Don Mattingly told reporters Sunday.” We have to go out and play and win a game.”

It’s kind of that simple.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Dodgers shortstops are hitting .167, worst in the majors. Dodgers third basemen are hitting .178.

In other words, this would be a good time for Hanley Ramirez to return from the disabled list. According to Ramirez, that day is rapidly approaching. The Dodgers originally thought Ramirez would be out until late May, but he has begun taking batting practice and fielding grounders. The team has outfitted him with a special splint that allows him to throw while protecting his surgically repaired right thumb.

"It's awesome. No pain, nothing," Ramirez said. "Definitely it's going to happen way sooner than it's supposed to."

Ramirez wouldn't reveal exactly when he might return, saying it was a surprise.

"I'm going to tweet it," Ramirez said.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, continue to go primarily with Justin Sellers at shortstop and Luis Cruz at third base, largely because they lack other options. Cruz is batting .111, Sellers .176. They each have one RBI. But they are easily the best available defenders at their positions.

"We decided we're going to play defense," manager Don Mattingly said. "When you put together a pitching staff like this, you have to catch the ball."

Here are lineups for Tuesday's game:

San Diego
1. Chris Denorfia RF
2. Everth Cabrera SS
3. Yonder Alonso 1B
4. Jesus Guzman LF
5. Jedd Gyorko 3B
6. Nick Hundley C
7. Cameron Maybin CF
8. Alexi Amarista 2B
9. Jason Marquis RHP

Dodgers
1. Carl Crawford LF
2. Mark Ellis 2B
3. Matt Kemp CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. A.J. Ellis C
7. Juan Uribe 3B
8. Justin Sellers SS
9. Chris Capuano LHP
 

 

LOS ANGELES -- Justin Sellers made two throwing errors to help usher in a couple of unearned runs in the Dodgers' 3-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. The next day, Sellers was not in the lineup, replaced at shortstop by Luis Cruz and in the lineup by Juan Uribe.

Coincidence? Exactly, according to manager Don Mattingly.

"I knew I'd get that question early," Mattingly said. "I told Sells early on that you all were going to question it, but he'll be back out there."

The Dodgers have had three different lineups in their first three games, perhaps a bit of a surprise given their relative health in spring training and the number of established players they have on their roster. Mattingly is trying to keep Uribe in the mix after a spring in which he batted .333, and he is giving Carl Crawford some extra time to recover coming off elbow surgery.

The swing man is Cruz, who played 12 professional seasons as a shortstop before moving to third to accommodate Hanley Ramirez last season. Cruz is going to have to get accustomed to moving back and forth between the positions, probably until Ramirez returns. The Dodgers haven't said whether Ramirez will return to shortstop, where he struggled, or play another position.

"I don't have the range of Dee [Gordon] or Sellers, but I can do it," Cruz said. "It's not that big of a deal for me."

Here are the rest of the lineups:

San Francisco Giants
1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Marco Scutaro 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval 3B
4. Buster Posey 1B
5. Hunter Pence RF
6. Hector Sanchez C
7. Gregor Blanco LF
8. Brandon Crawford SS
9. Tim Lincecum RHP

Dodgers
1. Carl Crawford LF
2. Skip Schumaker 2B
3. Matt Kemp CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. Luis Cruz SS
7. Juan Uribe 3B
8. A.J. Ellis C
9. Josh Beckett RHP

The Dodgers' Opening Day roster is virtually set, though the team will make a few moves Sunday morning before the noon deadline.

They elected to keep young lefty Paco Rodriguez over veteran Kevin Gregg in the bullpen. Farm director De Jon Watson was in discussion with Gregg's agent about whether the former closer, in camp on a minor league deal, would report to minor league camp after he was reassigned. Gregg has earned roughly $20 million in his career, so he could elect to walk away.

Both pitchers performed well this spring. Gregg had a 0.82 ERA, Rodriguez had a 3.02 ERA.

Manager Don Mattingly also announced that longtime minor leaguer Justin Sellers will make the team, which makes it a virtual lock he'll be the team's starting shortstop in place of injured Hanley Ramirez.

Barring something unforeseen, here will be the Dodgers' Opening Day lineup against the San Francisco Giants Monday:

1. Carl Crawford LF
2. Mark Ellis 2B
3. Matt Kemp CF
4. Adrian Gonzalez 1B
5. Andre Ethier RF
6. Luis Cruz 3B
7. A.J. Ellis C
8. Sellers SS
9. Clayton Kershaw LHP

It's not exactly ideal to learn that one of your middle-of-the-order hitters needs thumb surgery 11 days before Opening Day.

And Hanley Ramirez's injury, sustained while vainly diving for a ball in the World Baseball Classic final, will spark some misguided outrage that he played in the tournament.

But let's not get carried away here. This is an injury that is eminently survivable for the Dodgers. It might not affect their win total one iota, particularly if you presume Ramirez will have a season like his last two. It could, in fact, dramatically improve their defense in the first couple of months.

But it illustrates two points that bear monitoring all season. For having the biggest payroll in baseball history, the Dodgers -- to put it kindly -- are not particularly deep in position players. And, the offense might not be as powerful as Dodgers fans hoped, especially now that it will be missing its No. 5 hitter for a couple of months.

For the sake of context, let's recall that the Dodgers began the 2012 season with Juan Rivera in left field, hitting fifth, Dee Gordon at shortstop, batting leadoff, and James Loney at first base, hitting sixth. Through May 22 -- about the predicted length of Ramirez's recovery -- the Dodgers went 30-13.

That's not to say any of the options at this point are particularly enticing.

Manager Don Mattingly said Option No. 1 is to move Luis Cruz back to shortstop, where he played 23 games last season, and use some combination of Juan Uribe, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Nick Punto at third base. Yeesh.

It seems like using Gordon at shortstop and leaving Cruz at third gives you a little more upside. Before he sprained his ankle, Gordon was showing some signs of improved patience, with eight walks in 16 games. He had just one error.

Gordon likely would bat seventh or eighth and might not feel the pressure he did as a leadoff hitter. If he could get on base, he could provide a spark at the bottom of the lineup. It would also leave Cruz at his natural position, where he has played most of the spring.

But the larger point is this: Where's the depth?

The ESPN Stats and Info folks passed this one along:

2012 WAR

Cruz 2.2
Punto 0.7
Hairston 0.7
Uribe -0.4
Gordon -1.3

Cruz would have been playing either way, so to recap: two of the remaining players are barely replacement level (ie., Triple-A caliber) and two are worse than that. Not a pretty picture.

The other bummer about Thursday's news is it dampens the possibility of, "What if everything goes right?" The answer to that is still, "They're a very, very good team," but it's not, "1927 Yankees."

It has felt for a while like Ramirez is the hinge guy in this lineup, because his potential is so huge but his production lately so disappointing.

What if he could get back to 2006-2010 Hanley, when he batted .313, averaged 25 home runs and 39 stolen bases a season? With ideal left-right balance in their order and consistent run producers like Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez hitting ahead of him, the Dodgers could have put serious pressure on opposing staffs to make near-perfect pitches.

The past two seasons, though, Ramirez has hit .252 and averaged 17 homers and 20 stolen bases. He has, in other words, been average, at best. We haven't even discussed his fielding, for which the phrase, "sub-par," is probably more than fair.

While their bench options are far from ideal, the Dodgers do, in fact, have a pretty good fall-back option: their pitching.

On a back field in Arizona Wednesday, Zack Greinke threw 43 pitches over four innings in a minor-league game and said afterward that he had no pain in his right elbow. That good news, could, in fact, outweigh the bad news out of Ramirez's MRI. No matter how many dollars the Dodgers have thrown at their hitting woes, it's still all about pitching.

Hanley Ramirez injured his right hand diving for a ground ball during the Dominican Republic's win over Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night. The Dodgers will get a chance to examine their shortstop today to determine the extent of the damage. It didn't look bad, but you never know with the small bones in the hand.

The injury, of course, will raise some serious questions. Why was Ramirez playing at all, considering the Dodgers are paying him $15.5 million and the Dominican federation will pay him a small fraction of that? Why was he playing third when he had told two reporters right before leaving camp that he would ask to play exclusively shortstop and designated hitter?

The Dodgers wanted Ramirez to work on being a better shortstop this spring and he will have gone about three weeks without playing the position by the time he gets back to it.

Valid points, of course, but still, I have a difficult time condemning Ramirez's decision to play in the WBC after seeing the joy his teammates had in playing for their country throughout the tournament. Whether it's in Dodger Stadium or a small stadium in Puerto Rico, baseball is a spectacle, like any other entertainment. The audience's interest level is what matters.

It was beautiful to see the Dominicans celebrating on the field with the team they had just beaten. That's kind of the point, isn't it, bringing baseball to the world and togetherness to different nations?

If Major League Baseball is going to push the WBC, the teams are going to have to get used to occasional injuries that come up. Players get hurt in spring training games, too.

The risks of the WBC, apparently, outweighed the gains for most of the American players. Clayton Kershaw admitted he had some regrets about not pitching in it and said the Dodgers suggested he skip it. Buster Posey skipped it. Mike Trout skipped it. Smaller countries like the Dominican Republic and Mexico got better participation from their best players.

The Dominican infield was better than anything either league could produce in the All-Star game, with Ramirez at third, Jose Reyes at shortstop, Robinson Cano at second and Edwin Encarnacion at first. Imagine if Albert Pujols hadn't changed his mind and stayed in Angels camp.

If I were Dominican manager Tony Pena, I wouldn't have let Ramirez play shortstop either, not with Reyes and Erick Aybar on the roster. If Ramirez had made a big stink about it, it might have fractured the team togetherness that was so obvious from watching the Dominicans' games.

Imagine if Kershaw, Posey, Trout and the other American superstars had played, pitting two of the four baseball superpowers against one another (Japan and Cuba are the other two). That would have been a final worth watching, even in the San Francisco rain.

So, who's to blame, Ramirez because something beyond his control happened on the field, or the players who opted to stay home because they worried about the unforeseeable?

It's amazing how many -- and what a wide variety -- of baseball analysts refuse to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers as World Series contenders despite their record spending.

ESPN's Buster Olney came out with his predictions and has the Dodgers missing the playoffs entirely, with the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the NL West and the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants taking the wild cards.

Grantland's Jonah Keri clearly isn't buying the Dodgers' M.O. one bit.

The word you hear repeatedly about the Dodgers is "questions." For a team that will enter 2013 with a $230 million payroll, people seem to expect more certainties. Of course, one could argue that life, fragile as it is, is almost devoid of certainties.

Baseball has even fewer. If the majority of the following questions are answered with a simple, "no," the Dodgers will be able to take a break from pouring champagne in October to note that many people doubted them:

Matt Kemp: Will his October shoulder surgery sap his power?

It certainly appeared to for the man who likely will bat behind Kemp in the Dodgers' lineup. In 2010, playing in San Diego -- hardly a hitter's park -- Adrian Gonzalez slugged 31 home runs. He got his front (right) shoulder worked on the following October. It took him until June -- of 2012 -- to hit his next 31 home runs.

Clayton Kershaw: Will injuries slow him down?

If he's healthy, the Dodgers have nothing to worry about at the top of their rotation. He's not only one of the two most talented pitchers in the National League, he might not hit his prime for a few more years. Sandy Koufax comparisons become more fair every year he pitches. But he admitted he was bothered at times last year by plantar fasciitis in his left foot and nobody has really explained what was wrong with his hip at the end of last season.

Zack Greinke: Is his elbow going to become a lingering problem?

The Dodgers can easily absorb Greinke missing the first month of the season while he lets inflammation in his right elbow subside. They are uniquely situated in starting pitching depth. But they'd hardly be viewed as World Series threats if they go through 2013 with Josh Beckett as their No. 2 starter.

Gonzalez: Has he simply lost his power?

It's a mistake to view Gonzalez as a power hitter. He is a good hitter, with power. There's a difference. But even the second sentence is increasingly open to doubt. In 2009, he hit 40 home runs. Looks like an anomaly. A bunch of line drives happened to clear the fence. Fine. But then it certainly looks like a pattern forming. He hit nine fewer home runs in 2010, four fewer in 2011 and just 18 last year, his lowest total since he was a 23-year-old struggling to get at-bats in Texas.

Hanley Ramirez: Will his focus stray?

There may not be 10 players alive with more ability. He's big, fast and once had a great approach at the plate. But Don Mattingly has said this spring that he'd like Ramirez to cut down his swing. And the fact he has been playing third base in the World Baseball Classic raises the issue of how serious he is about improving as a shortstop. If he fully commits to squeezing the most out of his ability, the Dodgers could be loaded.

Andre Ethier: Will lefties continue to baffle him?

It's not hopeless. In 2007, his first full season, he batted .279 against lefties, essentially the same as he did against righties. But since then, it has been straight downhill, with yawning splits every season. Mattingly says he won't platoon him, but he's going to find it hard to play him in big games against lefties if Ethier doesn't make some serious strides.

Brandon League: Is he a setup man masquerading as a closer?

When the Dodgers signed him to a contract that will guarantee him $22.5 million over the next three seasons, you kind of knew they were going to call him the closer. But he's going into his ninth season and he has been a closer for a year and a half. Part of his problem is the mirror image of Ethier's. Left-handed batters have hit .277 against him, compared to .222 versus righties.

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Dee Gordon didn't forget how to play baseball just because the Dodgers traded for Hanley Ramirez, but his challenge now is to make sure the team doesn't forget about him.

Gordon is at a pivotal age, 25, as he tries to stick as an everyday player. The most likely outcome on Opening Day is that he will be at Triple-A Albuquerque.

Gordon dislocated his thumb sliding into third base last July and, by the time he returned, the Dodgers had traded for Ramirez, a three-time All-Star. Luis Cruz was so hot, there was nowhere to put Gordon. So, now he is in Arizona fighting to salvage a career that seemed on the verge of taking off just 10 months ago.

Gordon said he was dejected shortly after he found his job had been taken. His father, Tom "Flash" Gordon, advised him to ignore all the trade rumors this winter. Now, he's trying to grow from the whole episode.

"I had never failed at anything in my life. It was new to me," Gordon said. "I honestly didn’t know how to handle it, being 24 years old. It just taught me how to be strong, how to take the pitfalls of the game. I feel like I'm a better player now."

Making Gordon a more valuable player seems easy enough, on the surface. With blinding speed, he simply needs to find his way to first base more often. That's a lot harder than it sounds. After a promising 2011 season, Gordon batted .228 last year. His .299 career on-base percentage makes him a dubious choice as a leadoff hitter.

But when Gordon became conscious of walking more, he wound up taking too many strikes and swinging at too many balls. It led to a downward spiral that gave impetus to the Dodgers' desire to land Ramirez. By the time players reach the major leagues, it often is difficult to make drastic changes to their approach.

"I’m not that type of hitter," Gordon said. "I look for my pitch to hit. If I get it, I swing. Last year, I wasn’t swinging at my pitches because I was trying to work counts and get on base."

The Dodgers have seen a little more patience from Gordon this spring -- he leads the team with six walks -- and they have seen him create his usual havoc on the bases. When he stole second base against the Texas Rangers on Thursday, the stadium sound system played the theme from, "Speed Racer."

The Dodgers say they are seeing a better-rounded player than they saw a year ago.

"I told him, ‘When they quit talking about how fast you are and say, 'Hey, this kid's a baseball player,' then we’re going to be in great shape." manager Don Mattingly said.