One of the keys to understanding Dodger Cogs and Dogs is that workload matters. That’s why Jonathan Broxton has trouble staying in the top 10 despite All-Star caliber performance, why Rafael Furcal has fallen behind Jamey Carroll, and why Ramon Troncoso outranks Jeff Weaver despite a poorer ERA. Now, I’m not exactly applying this in an analytical way – as always, this feature intentionally is meant to have a big subjective element. But in determining which Dodgers have been more valuable over the course of the entire season, I have to give some consideration to the guys who are carrying more playing time.

This was an interesting set of rankings, as the four main Dodger starting pitchers now have above-average 2010 performance for the first time this season. The pendulum of the season that was so far on the side of offense has been swinging back – without the offense really being in that much of a decline.

5/24 . 5/13 . 5/3 . 4/19 . 4/12 . Player Comment
1 1 1 2 11 Andre Ethier Eagerly waiting to see if he can pick up where he left off.
2 2 2 3 1 Hiroki Kuroda Three runs in six innings constitutes a bad start in ’10.
3 5 6 10 20 Clayton Kershaw Could be his last time behind Kuroda in the rankings.
4 4 3 1 5 Matt Kemp On pace for 33 homers despite missing on his 10th Sunday; defense still inconsistent.
5 3 4 4 9 Manny Ramirez Sub-.700 OPS since coming off the DL.
6 7 10 5 2 Russell Martin Might be ranked too high, but subjective points for appearance of being team backbone again.
7 8 26 NR NR John Ely Nice to see him survive adversity Saturday.
8 11 12 12 10 Chad Billingsley Combined with Ely, his rebound made this a team with pitching again.
9 16 11 7 6 Casey Blake Just when he finally was looking his age at the plate, a resurgence. Too many errors, though.
10 6 8 9 24 James Loney Doesn’t make headlines, doesn’t hit enough for his position, but still valuable.
11 10 5 6 13 Jonathan Broxton 18 2/3 innings, 18 baserunners, 29 strikeouts
12 12 15 14 14 Blake DeWitt Seems to be steadily improving. Three triples last week – more power a matter of time?
13 17 18 21 18 Jamey Carroll Our own little pesky Eckstein – who’d have thunk?
14 9 7 8 4 Rafael Furcal Gonna have to start out well to avoid “Bring Back Carroll” chants from the “What have you done for me lately” crowd.
15 19 19 NR NR Xavier Paul Very quietly just hitting, and hitting, and hitting. Is he the outfield’s Ely?
16 18 NR NR NR Hong-Chih Kuo Kuo is just the man. Do I need to say more?
17 15 9 11 12 Ramon Troncoso Victim of his own success – Cogs & Dogs trying not to overpunish him for being overused.
18 14 16 18 21 Carlos Monasterios One apperance since May 11, but we’re still fans.
19 13 14 13 7 Ronnie Belliard Declining factor compared with April.
20 20 17 20 8 Reed Johnson Uh, did you know he went 8 for 12 last week? Most of the Dodger bench has been pretty grand.
21 22 21 17 15 Jeff Weaver Is it kinda strange how he keeps getting the job done?
22 23 20 15 25 Vicente Padilla Hey, he could be a great No. 5 starter next month.
23 25 22 19 19 A.J. Ellis No automatic out – if he plays.
24 26 24 23 23 Brad Ausmus Yeah, you know he’s moving up in the rankings! Oh wait – maybe that’s not good.
25 24 NR NR NR Ronald Belisario Still like him, but this season he’s at 14 1/3 innings, 10 runs.
26 21 23 24 17 Ramon Ortiz He’s just not gonna fool enough of the people enough of the time.
27 27 NR NR NR Nick Green Made a couple of loud outs in his first start.
28 28 27 26 26 George Sherrill Last Dodger pitcher to go from this great to this awful: Hideo Nomo?
29 29 28 25 NR Jon Link Not the key to the Juan Pierre trade, it turns out.
30 30 29 27 22 Russ Ortiz Sherrill still hasn’t put Ortiz completely out of rear-view mirror.
31 31 25 16 3 Charlie Haeger Reportedly has solved mechanical trouble, says Tony Jackson.
32 32 30 22 16 Garret Anderson Three hits in past eight at-bats, but hasn’t risen above painful stage.