{"id":36198,"date":"2011-03-21T09:54:57","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T16:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=36198"},"modified":"2023-02-07T07:38:19","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T15:38:19","slug":"odds-2011-la-dodgers-predictions-gambling-preview-21311","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/mlb-baseball\/odds-2011-la-dodgers-predictions-gambling-preview-21311\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dodgers Predictions | 2011 Season Betting Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

2011 MLB Team Preview: L.A. Dodgers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hard to believe, as some of us still have VERY cold temperatures outside, that the Boys of Summer are almost back. But it\u2019s true; teams have started reporting to 2011 Major League Baseball training camps and it\u2019s time to start our team-by-team baseball gambling<\/a> previews for the year. <\/p>\n

SIGN UP TODAY With MySportsbook.com – 10% Sign UP Bonus – 10cent Baseball Lines – Gamble On 2011 MLB Future Odds and 2011 World Series Championship Lines<\/a><\/h3>\n

Dodgers Calender<\/strong><\/p>\n

FEB. 1-18, 2011 – Salary arbitration hearings
\nFEB. 14, 2011 – Voluntary Spring Training reporting date for pitchers, catchers and injured players
\nFEB. 19, 2011 – Voluntary Spring Training reporting date for non-pitchers and catchers
\nFEB. 26, 2011 – Mandatory Spring Training reporting date for all players<\/p>\n

Is it just me, or are the Los Angeles Dodgers a team in denial? With plenty of hype surrounding them last year, they struggled to an 80-82 record. Still, they made almost no effort whatsoever to improve over the offseason. Do they really believe last year was a fluke and that this team is still playoff material? And should we trust them?<\/p>\n

LOS ANGELES DODGERS<\/strong>
\nWorld Series odds: +3000<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not buying what the Dodgers are selling \u2013 unless it\u2019s Dodger Dogs. Those are delicious.<\/p>\n

This team doesn\u2019t have enough offense to make a playoff run. Matt Kemp is a stud…we think. He regressed mightily last year and questions abound about the space between his ears. He\u2019s probably better than his 2010 line \u2013 he\u2019s a .285 career hitter who slipped to .249 \u2013 but he\u2019s never had good plate discipline. We can\u2019t be positive that he\u2019ll fix his problems.<\/p>\n

Andre Ethier is the other guy expected to produce runs in L.A.\u2019s lineup. He\u2019s talented, no doubt, but he wasn\u2019t the same after his wrist injury last year. Hopefully, he\u2019ll bounce back.<\/p>\n

I see two problems with the Dodgers\u2019 lineup. First off, they rely on Kemp and Ethier to be the stars. Those two are good players, but they\u2019re not Fielder\/Braun, Tulowitzki\/Gonzalez or Pujols\/Holliday. They\u2019re a tier below. Secondly, Kemp and Ethier don\u2019t have much support. Casey Blake, Jay Gibbons, Juan Uribe and Rod Barajas are a brigade of aging hackers. Rafael Furcal is still an above-average offensive shortstop but never stays healthy. James Loney looks like he\u2019s hitting his ceiling already \u2013 and it\u2019s pretty ho-hum. \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Optimists can point out that the Dodgers\u2019 lineup isn\u2019t any worse than San Francisco\u2019s, that the Giants won with pitching and that Dodgers have fantastic pitching. But that statement isn\u2019t quite right. Los Angeles has a very good staff (and pitcher\u2019s park) but it\u2019s not on par with San Fran\u2019s group of studs.<\/p>\n

Clayton Kershaw is the real deal. Walks be damned, he has filthy stuff. He should contend for the Cy Young annually for the next decade. But no one else after him is an absolute force this rotation. Chad Billingsley has plenty of talent but still struggles with his control and may have peaked. Both Ted Lilly and Hiroki Kuroda are efficient, underrated guys. I don\u2019t have many bad things to say about those two other than that they\u2019re not aces.<\/p>\n

Will the Dodgers\u2019 pen rebound? Jonathan Broxton was the game\u2019s most feared closer two years ago but imploded last season. He\u2019ll get a shot at redemption this year but has Kenley Jansen breathing down his neck.<\/p>\n

2011 OUTLOOK<\/strong><\/p>\n

I see 2011 as a virtual carbon copy of 2010. The Dodgers\u2019 pitching staff will be their strength but it\u2019s not so dominant that it can win them a division title the way San Francisco\u2019s staff did last year. And I really don\u2019t like L.A.\u2019s lineup, which is comprised mostly of washed-up free swingers. A .500 campaign seems about right for the Dodgers this season.<\/p>\n

Prediction: 3rd, National League West<\/strong><\/p>\n

TEAM BY TEAM MLB PREVIEWS —-><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

View The MLB Cappers Leaderboard For 2010 \u00a0– Picks Packages for 2011 On Sale! \u2014\u2013><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shea Matthews weighs in with his L.A. Dodgers 2011 Team Gambling Preview. I see 2011 as a virtual carbon copy of 2010. The Dodgers\u2019 pitching staff will be their strength but it\u2019s not so dominant that it can win them a division title. Do your MLB betting with Cappers Picks MLB expert picks in 2011\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":36205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[47333,43915,12702,26955,12703,12704,47334,66513,10729,34888,12705,12706,46912,66497,678,681,740,12237,12594,11707,11708],"class_list":["post-36198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb-baseball","tag-2011-dodgers","tag-2011-mlb-team-preview","tag-dodgers-futures","tag-dodgers-mlb-picks","tag-dodgers-odds","tag-dodgers-predictions","tag-dodgers-world-series-odds","tag-handicapping","tag-handicapping-baseball","tag-l-a-dodgers","tag-la-dodgers-picks","tag-la-dodgers-predictions","tag-l-a-world-series-futures","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-betting","tag-mlb-gambling","tag-national-league","tag-national-league-west","tag-nl-west","tag-nl-west-predictions","tag-nl-west-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107883,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36198\/revisions\/107883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}