Dodgers Force-Feed Top Rookie Jerry Sands

With reserve right-fielder Marcus Thames unlikely to come off the disabled list when eligible May 18,  rookie Jerry Sands looks to gain continued playing time as Dodgers manager Don Mattingly force feeds the youngster with starts not only in left field,  but at his natural position at first base.

The 6-foot-4,  240-pound Sands,  primarily filling Thames role as right-handed power bat off the bench,  has been starting almost every day in left field,  then moving to first base against left-handed pitchers while starting first baseman James Loney struggles with a .125 average against them.
 
Though half of Sands' 14 hits have been doubles,  and he has given a number of pitches a long ride to the wall, so far he has failed to take advantage of his opportunity,  with his average stuck at the.200 mark.   However,  he will not have reached the 100-at-bat benchmark until near the end of next week,  a juncture at which he is likely to be reassessed.

The Dodgers are desperate for punch, and will turn to veteran Jay Gibbons, a left-handed batter recovering from blurred vision, to start in left field against righties, thus putting Sands in a virtual platoon.

While Sands' emergence -- if it can be called that -- is purely opportunistic until now,  theoretically he could surprise observers by winning regular spot in the lineup if only he could perform even fractionally as well as he had been playing at Triple A Albuquerque when the Dodgers called him up as a stop-gap measure.

Sands, 23, the 2010 Dodgers Minor League Player of the Year, was hitting a homer in just about every 10 at-bats,  a total of five to open the season,  and pounding minor league pitching at a .400 clip.  With Thames out possibly into June,  time remains for Sands to prove himself.

Never Say Never to Dodgers Prospect Jerry Sands

Highly regarded Dodgers prospect Jerry Sands -- a non-roster invitee wearing No. 68 at spring camp in Camelback Arizona -- is making the most of his chances against major league pitching, having hit his second home run of the pre-season in a 7-1 victory over the Rockies.

The 23-year-old, six-foot-four, 220-pound slugger also hit a towering triple that dropped in front of the 410-foot center field marker.

Though Sands likely will not make the team this spring and perhaps not for the entire season, never say never to manager Don Mattingly. Anything is possible under the right circumstances, he indicated to the Los Angeles Times.

"I guess it depends on what's going on," Mattingly said to writer Bill Shaiken. "...If there may be a need and you're not afraid of calling him up, at that point you make a decision."

Working in Sands' favor is the team's need not only for power, but youth. A deep backup for starting first baseman James Loney, who is being held back by swelling of the knee, Sands is ticketed for Double A Chattanooga.

This Makes Sense

I stopped counting after Joe Torre left Nomar Garciaparra out of the lineup for six straight games.  I think the streak got up to about nine or so, but Nomar was back in the lineup tonight against the Padres.  

Nomar's absence from the lineup was warranted - he's hitting .232, and .222 since the all-star break.  But he is an acceptable one night substitute for James Loney, who has the night off. What is curious, however, is that Torre thought it rational to put a guy who was not good enough to hit 8th yesterday into the cleanup spot tonight.

Dodgers Patient During James Loney Slump

The Dodgers are demonstrating patience with mildly slumping first baseman James Loney, the $400,000-a-year sophomore now assigned to the tutelege of roving batting instructor Don Mattingly.

Hitless in his last six at-bats and one for his last 10, Loney has seen his batting average fall to .236 against lefties, a significant liability for a cleanup hitter. But manager Joe Torre appears content to let Loney play through it for now, entertaining no thoughts of calling up deep reserve first baseman John Lindsey from Triple A Las Vegas, even if just to give Loney an occasional breather.

Prospect Andy LaRoche, however, is another matter, as he has been moved across the Las Vegas diamond to learn first base skills with the idea of spelling Loney from time to time once he returns to Los Angeles.

While LaRoche has failed to reach the .300 plateau forseen for him before he went down with a thumb injury, Lindsey is batting more than .350 and slugging nearly .700 with eight homers and 14 doubles in 165 at-bats in the thin desert air. But at age 30, Lindsey's time has passed and is regarded as no more than an insurance policy in the event of an injury to Loney,

With Loney's overall batting average still clinging to the .270 range, he is being tolerated for now as Torre needs him in the No. 4 hole to break up righties Matt Kemp and Jeff Kent, who have difficulties of their own.

Loney meanwhile has found something of a kindred spirit in Mattingly, a left-handed hitter who also experienced his share of setbacks when coming up 25 years ago and who was not initially seen as having a great deal of power potential.