Cesar

Izturis

Izturis went 1-for-2 before being removed from the game.

With Roberts out, the Dodgers have juggled their lineup placing Izturis at the top, moving Paul Lo Duca up to 2nd, and Adrian Beltre up from 7th to 5th in the order. Izturis is hitting .287 right now, but he is not an ideal leadoff hitter as his on-base percentage is only .320. That said, until Roberts returns he will get an opportunity to hit at the top of order and see his fantasy value increase in the short-term.

Didn’t manager Jim Tracy learn his lesson last year? Putting Izturis in front of Shawn Green might be good for Izturis’ limited fantasy value, but it would be bad for Green and the Dodgers. The shortstop has a career OBP of just .270.

Surprisingly, the Dodger offense wasn’t any better with Izturis on the bench, managing only three hits. Izturis is day-to-day.

Izturis is back over .300 at .302 after going .415 over the course of his recent streak. He’s been a very nice surprise this season.

The Dodgers are using Oscar Robles at shortstop and Jose Valentin at third base. Izturis is day-to-day.

Is there a more stubborn manager that Jim Tracy? Izturis is batting .175 with 10 walks in 217 AB since the beginning of June and he still hasn’t been dropped in the order. He’s scored a total of 15 runs in his last 54 games.

''Swing-wise, I think it’ll do him some good,’' manager Jim Tracy said of initially giving Izturis a breather. ''He’s dragging.’' He is batting just .194 in August, his average for the season falling from .345 on June 1 to .259 currently.

Yeah, that’s just what the Cubs need. We suppose this meant Ronny Cedeno will move to second, opening up short for Izturis. It should be baseball’s worst offensive middle infield.