March 9, 2009
Ryan Dempster likes Chicago Cubs' options for starting rotation
MESA, Ariz. — When James Loney stepped into the batter's box against Ryan Dempster in the first inning of Friday's Cactus League game against the Cubs, many of the 12,913 in attendance at HoHoKam Park had flashbacks of Game 1 of the 2008 National League Division Series.
That was when Loney smacked a fifth-inning grand slam off Dempster, erasing a 2-0 deficit and silencing the 42,099 Cubs fans at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers never looked back, sweeping the series in three games.
Dempster, however, was not reminiscing Friday when he faced Loney for the first time since that fateful October night.
Did he even think of that moment at all when facing Loney?
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"No," he replied. "That's irrelevant, really, for me. I know what happened. I'm not an idiot. I just try to make pitches, and kind of go from there."
Dempster induced Loney to ground to first baseman Derrek Lee, who threw to the plate to try to nail base-runner Matt Kemp. But Kemp easily scurried back to third and, after Blake DeWitte walked to load the bases, Brad Ausmus drove in the first run on an infield hit that shortstop Ryan Theriot couldn't handle.
Dempster eventually got out of the inning with two runs scoring, and didn't allow another hit in his three-inning performance. The Dodgers wound up winning 5-4, and their fans streamed out of the ballpark chanting "Sweep,, sweep, sweep," an obvious reference to the playoffs.
Meanwhile, as he works on getting himself ready for the season, Dempster also is observing the three-way race for the fifth's starter's spot between Sean Marshall, Aaron Heilman and Jeff Samardzija.
"They're all throwing really well," he said. "No matter what happens, whoever makes that fifth spot, the other guys ending up in the bullpen will be better for it because of the competition."
Dempster was in a three-way battle with Jon Lieber and Jason Marquis for two starting spots last March and wound up going 17-6 and making the NL All-Star squad. He believes friendly competition in spring is the only way to go.
"Marshall has done a really good job whenever he has been asked to pitch," he said. "Aaron has tremendous stuff and never really has gotten that opportunity to start [consistently]. He's making the most of it.
"Jeff is young, but he has an incredible head on his shoulders … and [Chad] Gaudin, too. It's nice to have that many options because you need those many starting pitchers during the year. Not every team, every starter, makes all their starts."
psullivan@tribune.com
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