Getting defensive about Dodgers’ fielding

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Here’s a little tip to help the Dodgers turn things around:

Catch the ball. Try throwing it well too.

Kinda basic, I know, but basically the Dodgers’ defense is a shell of itself. Or at least the defense expected.

Last year the Dodgers sported the fourth-best fielding percentage in the National League. Currently this season, they’re second to last.

Same guys, very different results. Very strange results.

In the Dodgers’ first nine games, they’ve committed 10 errors. If they kept that pace up, they’d finish the season with 180 errors. They had 83 all last season.

‘The fact that we know we’re better than that, I’m not worried about it,’ said manager Joe Torre. ‘I’m not worried about Casey Blake making an error (Thursday) night. I’m not worried about (Rafael) Furcal.

‘Their track record tells you they’re better than that. It’s just something that’s happening now, but I don’t expect it to continue.’

Just one of those things, an odd period with an abnormal number of miscues that just happened to fall at the season’s start?

Maybe, probably … hopefully?

The only new player in the lineup is second baseman Blake DeWitt. He’s committed one error, and as a natural third baseman playing out of position, patience with him is required.

Blake has committed a team-high three errors. He made only 10 errors all of last season. Russell Martin has a pair of errors, and he had only seven all of last year.

It probably is some oddity, but with the pitching staff struggling to throw strikes, this is a time when their defense needs to be at its best.

-- Steve Dilbeck