Ogden Raptors start season with 20-0 victory

Well, that's certainly one way to start a season.

The Dodgers' Pioneer League affiliate, the Ogden Raptors, won its season debut on Monday 20-0. That isn't a typo, the team actually scored 20 runs in the first game of the season.

On Thursday, I made note of a few guys to watch for the Raptors -- James Baldwin, Scott Schebler and Scott Woodward. Baldwin went 1-for-5 with two runs scored, two RBI and a walk. Schebler had the best night of the trio, going 3-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored, four RBI and a walk. Woodward, making his professional debut, went 1-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and one RBI.

Right-hander Gustavo Gomez threw five shutout innings, giving up three hits while striking out six. Gomez, whom the Dodgers signed out of Panama in 2008, ranked No. 60 on Brandon Lennox's (True Blue L.A.) Top 200 prospect list.

The team could get an influx of players, as guys like Joc Pederson and Noel Cuevas are struggling in limited playing time in Low-A and High-A, respectively. Both were 2010 draft picks and aren't getting much experience. They could benefit from consistent playing time.

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True Blue L.A. has the first half surprises and disappointments from the Dodgers' minor-league system. It's a good read.

Jared Massey of L.A. Dodger Talk has a good post on why Clayton Kershaw should throw less fastballs.

Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness has two great reads. One revisits his letter to the McCourts in October 2009, asking them to sell the team. The other is a post titled, "Clayton Kershaw, Ace." It's something I've been saying for two years. The first link, ironically, has the same title as Petriello's post.

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Kershaw's performance last night against the Tigers was masterful. He threw nine innings, giving up two hits, one walks while striking out 11. He did it all on 112 pitches. Very impressive, young man.

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Matt Kemp has passed Andre Ethier for fourth place in fan voting for the All-Star game. Kemp is still roughly 328,000 votes behind Matt Holliday, but he's made up about 200,000 votes in a week. It'd be nice to see him start the game in center for the National League.