When we arrived at Spring Training in mid February, neither Clayton Kershaw nor Blake DeWitt was in big league camp and here it is, May 25, and they will both play key roles in today’s game and potentially, the course of the 2008 season for the Dodgers.

With Andruw now going down and joining Furcal, Nomar, and Schmidt on the DL, it’s a very different team than the one that showed up in Vero just three and a half months ago. It just goes to show how quickly things can change, when you consider that three and a half months from now, we’ll be in early September, hopefully gearing up for a pennant race. I guess it’s also a reminder of just how long the season is and how each game is extremely important, but is just one part of a huge puzzle. I think that’s how I manage to remain positive after tough losses and not get too excited after big wins. It’s a big picture, and hopefully we can all see it ending with a celebration in October.

Speaking of DeWitt, he’s the subject of Ken Levine’s blog entry as a write-in candidate for the All-Star Game. For those who do not know Ken, he’s one of the two hosts of postgame DodgerTalk on KABC 790 and the Sunday Night Sports Final, which airs tonight from 6-9 p.m. Josh Suchon, the other host, is set to fly with us to Chicago tonight, so Brian Kamenetzky will host alongside Ken this evening and there’s some good stuff coming your way.

In the eight o’clock hour, they’ll be interviewing Roy Gleason and for those who don’t know his story, check this article out from a few years ago.  In the nine o’clock hour, Maury Wills will be a guest, as we wind down the 1960s celebration and head toward the 70s for the month of June.

That’s the past. The present and future will be on display today at the stadium, with Clayton Kershaw taking the mound backed by Loney, Martin, Kemp, Ethier, DeWitt, and Hu. Here’s the actual lineup:

Pierre, LF

Maza, 2B

Ethier, RF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Kemp, CF

DeWitt, 3B

Hu, SS

Kershaw, P