With Scott Kazmir making his second start with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, it was an opportunity to extract some revenge on the club who cut ties with him in June 2011. Kazmir’s tenure with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim came to an unceremonious end after 35 starts.
Acquired in a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays in August 2009, Kazmir posted an 11-17 record and 5.31 ERA with Anaheim. Injuries played a role in the lefty’s decline as Kazmir was placed on the disabled list three times while with the Angels.
His lone start during the 2011 season came in April when he allowed five runs, issued two walks and hit two batters in 1.2 innings pitched. Kazmir was 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 1.00 WHIP against the Angels last season in two starts (15 innings pitched).
However, his former club got the better of the matchup on Wednesday at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Spotted an early 1-0 lead, Kazmir threw 36 pitches, issued two walks and allowed three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
He threw 20 more pitches in the second, and was lifted after allowing an RBI single to Albert Pujols, which came on the heels of a Mike Trout RBI triple — albeit Scott Van Slyke didn’t do his pitcher any favors in fielding Trout’s hit.
Kazmir threw a total of 56 pitches, retired five of 13 batters faced, issued two walks and allowed five runs on one triple and five singles. Despite the rough outing, Kazmir told Kelli Tennant of SportsNet LA he was pleased with certain aspects:
“I actually felt good. The fastball was coming out and the location was good. There were just a couple bad breaks, hopefully I’m getting it all out of the way early. It’s frustrating not getting the results I want. But, I have to continue to look at the positives, it’s still early and I just have to keep at it.”
Kazmir echoed a similar message after his debut with the Dodgers last week. However, the 32 year old was critical of his fastball, having allowed two runs on six hits in 2.0 innings against the Texas Rangers.
Kazmir did succeed in limiting the damage in his first spring outing as he induced two inning-ending double plays. His next opportunity to atone for two shaky starts is expected to come March 14 when the Dodgers host the Milwaukee Brewers at Camelback Ranch.
As it currently stands, Kazmir projects to follow Clayton Kershaw in a Dodgers’ rotation that’s looking to overcome the production lost with Zack Greinke now in Arizona, and temporary losses of Brett Anderson and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
