Published: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 Scanning the Majors: 4/26/06 Edition

Nothing but Jam Shots: The Dodgers traded Cody Ross to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later. I guess keeping two light hitting middle infielders (Oscar Robles and Ramon Martinez) made more sense than a power hitting OF with great plate discipline who happen to be coming off the game of his career…

Lance Carter’s occupation of a roster spot and a place in the Dodger bullpen is a glowing example of the pitfalls of basing roster decisions on spring training performances. Carter had a great spring, carrying a 1.29 ERA in 14 spring innings. Lost in that was the fact that Carter’s performance came mainly against minor league players and non-roster invitees trying to make their team... Meanwhile, Jonathan Broxton hasn’t allowed an earned run in 9 innings at AAA Las Vegas, striking out 15. This is another Carter administration Torosian won’t be sad to see come to an end... Going into Monday, the Giants and the Rockies were tied for the NL West lead while the Detroit Tigers were only half a game out in the AL Central. This is another reason why it’s ridiculous for announcers to constantly update scores of interdivisional opponents during games in April. Save the every inning play-by-play for August… If the Dodgers are going to run off a winning streak, now is as good a time as any. After getting by Andy Pettite and the Astros on Monday, the Dodgers face a pretty weak line of starting pitchers the rest of the week: Fernando Nieve, Wandy Rodriguez, Chris Young, Clay Hensley and Chan Ho Park don’t inspire much fear in opposing batters… Attention all Fantasy baseball players in keeper leagues: Angel prospect and future stud 2B Howie Kendrick was called up Monday to take Macier Izturis’s spot on the roster. He may not play much this year, but stash him away anyway when the Adam Kennedy era ends after this season… The Angels didn’t have a left-handed, regular member of their bullpen the last couple years. This offseason, they acquired J.C. Romero from the Minnesota Twins. Credit manager Mike Scioscia for playing into the lefty-righty matchups and going with the best pitcher in given situations rather than being preoccupied with what hand they threw with. He uses Romero consistently not because he’s a lefty, but because he can get guys out, regardless of what side of the plate they hit from… Angel 1B Casey Kotchman has struggled out of the gate, putting up a line of .155/.210/.172/.382 (for future reference, that’s BA/OBP/SLG/OPS). If this slump had come in July, it probably wouldn’t stir the panic among Angel faithful. Some have called for Darin Erstad to move back to first, but Scioscia has wisely held off. Kotchman will be fine… If you head to Anaheim this week, How are some local boys doing? Ryan Tucker (Temple City) is 0-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 3 starts at Single A Greensboro. Chuck Tiffany (Charter Oak) is 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 3 starts for AA Montgomery. Ed Clelland (Arcadia) is 0-1 with a 19.29 ERA in 3 appearances for the Single A Lakeland Tigers. John Grabow (San Gabriel) has no record with a 6.75 ERA pitching out of the Pittsburgh Pirate bullpen. Henry Barrera (Rosemead) and Trevor Bell (Crescenta Valley) have yet to make their 2006 debuts. John Scanlan can be reached at scanman_33@sbcglobal.net