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Season Preview: Pitching key to LA’s revamped roster

The Sports Xchange

March 29, 2015 at 5:45 pm.

Clayton Kershaw won the Cy Young Award ... again. (Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Regardless of where the 2015 season ends, this winter will stand as a watershed moment for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A new chapter in the storied franchise’s history began with the hiring of Andrew Friedman as president of baseball operations. Wholesale changes throughout the organization followed, with the modern tools of statistical analysis being wedded to the Dodgers’ immense financial resources.

However, only a deep October run will result in the roster makeover of the winter being regarded as a success.

Friedman and his staff tore apart a 94-win team coming off back-to-back National League West division titles, turning over nearly half of the 40-man roster they inherited. The resulting squad is strong on pitching with a significantly improved defense to back up those arms.

“I think we have a chance to be elite on the run-prevention side,” Friedman said this spring of a team that will have new starters at every position up the middle — Yasmani Grandal at catcher, Howie Kendrick at second base, Jimmy Rollins at shortstop and rookie Joc Pederson in center field.

The offense dropped off slightly after subtracting Hanley Ramirez (signed by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent) and Matt Kemp (traded to the San Diego Padres). Even so, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly keeps pointing out that the lineup should be deeper now with more “battle-type” at-bats throughout.

Any loss of power wasn’t evident in spring training, where the Dodgers led all teams in home runs through March 29.

“I like the direction the team is going,” veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. “It’s a really deep lineup, great defense. People say we lost offense, but I don’t believe that. I think it’s more spread out now.”

There are vulnerabilities, however. The age of the remade infield including Gonzalez is 34. The bullpen that dragged the Dodgers down last season was remade but remained unimpressive in spring training.

And there is injury risk in the rotation — left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu will open the season on the disabled list and both right-hander Brandon McCarthy and lefty Brett Anderson have a long history of physical issues — with little depth behind it.

“I’m not big on expectations,” Kendrick said. “We definitely have the components to be a World Series team. We just have to work together.”

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