The Los Angeles Dodgers' Second Base Controversy Is in Full Tilt

While the Los Angeles Dodgers have nothing but clinching a playoff spot and eventually the division title on their mind, an interesting side plot has developed with their All-Star second baseman.

Orlando Hudson was praised as the key offseason pickup for general manager Ned Colletti over the winter, because for the first half of the season Hudson tore the cover off the ball.

He batted .283 with seven home runs and 48 RBI in the first half of the season.

O-Dawg also patched together a 17-game hitting streak from May 9-27, batting .370 (27-for-73) over that stretch.

But many have begun to forget about the stellar contributions he made at the start of the season, as Hudson has not been producing runs at a strong clip.  

In the second half, his average has improved to .297 over 53 games, but he has just two home runs and 18 RBI since the All-Star Break.

Ronnie Belliard, acquired on Aug. 30 from the Washington Nationals, has started in place of Hudson seven times since joining the club.

Belliard is batting .308 (16-for-52) with four home runs, four doubles, and 12 RBI while wearing Dodger Blue.

That means in 15 games, Belliard has amassed more run production than Hudson has in the entire second half.

Meanwhile, Hudson has hit just .250 in the month of September and is seeing his playing time slip away fast as the postseason approaches.

When manager Joe Torre was asked about the lineup selection, the veteran skipper was quick to dismiss any potential problems.

"I'm taking advantage with Ronnie swinging the bat the way he is to use him, and decide what choices we have going forward," Torre said.

Belliard started his tenure in Los Angeles with a bang, launching a home run in his first at-bat with the team.

He also hammered a first-inning grand slam against the San Francisco Giants en route to a 12-1 blowout victory.

Before Sunday’s series finale against Tim Lincecum, Torre spoke of Hudson possibly needing some rest after a long season, in which he has started 133 of 150 games.

"Over the course of the season it's probably taken a little bit of a toll on him [Hudson]."

One telling sign of his body wearing down with the long season may be evidenced in the startling number of double plays he has grounded into during the second half.

Hudson hit into just four in 83 first-half games but has racked up 10 twin-killers in the second half.

Another point of concern has to be the lack of runs he is scoring.

Now, this could just be a reflection of the lackluster second half effort of the lineup for most of the second half, but Hudson scored a ridiculously lower number of runs in the second half, when he has scored just 17 runs in 53 games, than the first, when he scored 53 in 83 games.

Any number of factors could be resulting in his decreased run production, and his small number of runs scored could be more of an indication of the struggles for the middle of the Dodgers’ order for most of the second half.

Nonetheless, O-Dawg is not producing like himself, and Torre has aggressively taken a path to give him relief.

While it pains me to see Hudson not being able to perform at his peak for whatever reason, if Belliard keeps producing on the field, then there is no reason to fix what isn’t broke.

Unfortunately, what isn’t broke is keeping an All-Star on the bench.

Los Angeles fans that have an affinity towards O-Dawg have to trust Torre with his guidance of this squad, as the man has orchestrated four World Championships in New York.

While Torre hasn’t reached the pinnacle in nearly a decade, the man flat-out knows how to handle a ball club.

The new plan at second base happens to run through the outstanding play of Belliard, who saw a similar situation unfold in ’06.

Belliard was traded midseason from the Cleveland Indians to the St. Louis Cardinals—who, of course, went on to win the World Series that season.

PJ Ross is a Featured Columnist for the Los Angeles Dodgers.