Manny Ramirez is starting his rehab assignment on Tuesday when the Albuquerque Isotopes host the Nashville Sounds.

Manny will apparently play three games in New Mexico, and then move into the California League when the Inland Empire 66ers play at Lake Elsinore and then at home against Rancho Cucamonga.

That will take him up until July 1 when IE travels to Visalia. Whether he goes there remains to be seen, but just a couple of days later he'll rejoin the Dodgers.

He'll be back on July 3 when the club is in San Diego. That, my friends, is only nine games from now.

Yes, 41 games have passed since it felt like the world was coming to an end, and somehow it has not. The Dodgers have been better than good, going 25-16 without him, which is a .610 winning percentage. That over the course of a season would win you close to 100 games.

So now we know the plan as far as Manny's return, so here comes the big question...

So, I decided to wait a day, but I figured I'd be writing about the Dodgers losing the first two games and needing Clayton Kershaw to be the stopper.

But Jeff Weaver shut me up.

Let's take a look.