Dodgers Web musings: It’s a running start

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An aggressive looking Dodgers has the Web wondering:

-- The Times’ Dylan Hernandez said after two games that Matt Kemp looks like a different player.

-- Hernandez also pegs the Dodgers’ opening-day payroll at $95 million (with another $15 million in deferred payments), a significant increase from last year’s $85-million starting figure.

-- ESPN/LA’s Tony Jackson said new base-running coach Davey Lopes’ fingerprints are all over the Dodgers, maybe more than Don Mattingly’s.

-- Dodgers.com’s Ken Gurnick also credits Lopes for the Dodgers’ early success on the bases.

-- Gurnick also writes that despite the progress of Casey Blake with his sore back, the Dodgers don’t want to rush his return.

-- The Orange County Register’s Mark Whicker says the buzz is missing from this year’s Dodgers.

-- Baseball Savvy’s Howard Cole has a new Dodgers blog up for the Orange County Register. The more the merrier. It’s oddly named Dodgers Blog. Where have I heard that highly original name before?

-- ESPN/LA’s Jon Weisman visits with ex-Dodger Orel Hershiser.

-- The Daily Breeze’s Joe Haakenson said Mattingly appreciates a good rivalry but is disappointed that some fans take it too far.

-- True Blue LA’s Chad Moriyama takes a look at the early defense of Marcus Thames.

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Dodgers’ opening-day payroll increases

-- Steve Dilbeck