Ronnie Belliard may have lost the weight and Jamey Carroll may have come to town as, um, the Dodgers’ highest-profile free agent signing, but, as Aaron suspected yesterday, Joe Torre has named Blake DeWitt the team’s starting second baseman.
DeWitt earned the job in spring training, hitting .367/.456/.592. And obviously the Dodgers would have preferred that he won it anyway given that he’s a mere 24 this year and could conceivably hold the position for a while.
Cardinals starter Michael Wacha suffered a strained left oblique muscle during his start this afternoon against the Phillies, causing him to leave in the fourth inning.
Wacha is 8-2 with a 3.20 ERA and a 71/36 K/BB ratio in 84.1 innings across 15 starts this season with St. Louis. To the extent he has to miss some time — and obliques invariably send starters to the disabled list — potential fill-in candidates include John Gant, Daniel Poncedeleon and Dakota Hudson.
