Daily Dodger in review: When he’s healthy, Rafael Furcal is still a star
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RAFAEL FURCAL, 33, shortstop
Final 2010 stats: .300 batting average, eight home runs, 43 RBI, 66 runs, 22 stolen bases, .460 slugging percentage, .366 on-base percentage in 383 at-bats.
Contract status: Signed for next season at $13 million.
The good: Was an All-Star. Batted .300 and stole 22 of 26 bases. When healthy, he played like the leadoff man and shortstop the Dodgers were relying upon when they signed him to a three-year, $30-million extension before the 2009 season.
The bad: You just can no longer count on Furcal to stay healthy. He missed a month early in the season with a strained hamstring. He came back to be added to the All-Star team, replacing the Mets’ Jose Reyes, but then went on the disabled list again for a month with a bad back, an injury the Dodgers said was unrelated to previous back surgery.
What’s next: A lot of crossing of fingers. Really, the Dodgers have no choice but to count on him being healthy. When he is, he’s a difference-maker. A catalyst with some pop. It’s relying on him to be healthy that’s trouble. It’s not like they can trade him with that $13-mil salary. He is your Dodgers’ 2011 shortstop, and if he can avoid injury, that’s a good thing.
The take: Furcal slid some when he returned for the final month from his back injury (.237, no home runs, four stolen bases). But if you subtract his September, he had a terrific season. Not counting his two stints on the disabled list.
Prospect Dee Gordon, the Dodgers’ 2009 Minor League Player of the Year, tailed off somewhat last season at Double-A Chattanooga (.277, .332 on-base, .355 slugging) and doesn’t appear ready for the bigs. And Chin-Lung Hu’s trains seems to have left the station; he’ll be 27 at the start of next season.
The Dodgers are going to roll with Furcal. He still has a cannon for an arm, is still a great leadoff hitter and still a superior asset … when healthy.
-- Steve Dilbeck