Dodgers sticking with 6-man rotation for now
LOS ANGELES — The orderly procession that has been at least three years in the making will have to be talked about soon, although for now, the Dodgers prefer to bask in the welcome predictability of it all.
The Dodgers have been using six viable starters ever since left-hander Blake Snell returned from a shoulder injury at the start of the month. One by one they take their turn, although Snell has altered the order a bit this week while on paternity leave.
With the calendar about to flip to September, the Dodgers now are in the somewhat unfamiliar position of having more starters than they need for October.
Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday the plan is to stick with the six-man setup for now. And keeping it that way through the regular season might be the way to go, even as the team will eventually pare down to four starters once the playoffs arrive.
“I think that right now we feel good with the six,” Roberts said. “Obviously we haven’t kind of gone through the rotation yet (after) the next 10 days, which is going to be kind of hard if you’re looking at off days and things like that. So we’re talking through that right now.”
Emmet Sheehan’s performances of late have raised his profile with the club. He gave up just two hits over seven scoreless innings while picking up his third win in four starts on Monday night against the Cincinnati Reds.
But Sheehan figures to be one of the two Dodgers starters moved out of the rotation once the playoffs begin. The staff will have a tough decision to make on the other one.
Somebody in the group of Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow might not make a playoff start, even if the team makes another deep run.
The challenging decisions ahead are far different than the ones of the recent past when bullpen games filled out starting obligations. It worked out in spectacular fashion last season when the Dodgers won the World Series, but it is far from a preferred strategy to success.
“I mean, it’s been a couple, two, three years since we’ve had this kind run of help from the starters, and certainly the performance,” Roberts said. “And we kind of had to weather that early on to get guys back.”
The Dodgers came into the season with as many as 10 potential starting options that could have been available at some point during the season, but they had less than five for a stretch in the first half because of continued injury issues.
With Kershaw, Glasnow, Ohtani and Snell all back and pitching well now, the pitching plan has a decidedly different look to it.
“They’ve performed; they’ve been great,” Roberts said. “And obviously we value those guys. It’s just made life a lot easier for all of us.”
Dodgers starters have combined for a 4.07 ERA that was 20th in all of MLB heading into Tuesday’s game and ninth in the National League. Since the start of August, though, the rotation had a collective 3.40 ERA, the third-best mark in the National League.
BULLPEN SHUFFLE
Left-hander Alex Vesia was placed on the injured list less than an hour before Tuesday’s game with a right oblique strain.
The Dodgers filled his roster spot by activating Snell off the paternity list but the bullpen was a man down for Tuesday’s game against the Reds.
Vesia is 3-2 with a 2.75 ERA over 59 relief appearances with four saves but hasn’t pitched since Thursday when he finished off a victory over the Colorado Rockies with a scoreless inning.
Since June 22, Vesia has a 2.14 ERA in 23 appearances (21 innings).
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Ohtani will take the mound in the series finale against the Reds on Wednesday looking to rebound from his worst start of the season, when he gave up five runs on nine hits over four innings against the Rockies last Wednesday in Denver.
Roberts said the goal is to get Ohtani through five innings for the first time this season in his 11th start. He threw a season-high 80 pitches in an Aug. 13 outing against his former club, the Angels, but he gave up four runs on five hits over 4⅓ innings.
“It’s big,” Roberts said. “… Tomorrow’s going to be a nice afternoon and I expect him to go out there and get through five innings.”
ALSO
Right-hander Michael Kopech could be set to return from a torn meniscus in his right knee by the upcoming road trip at Pittsburgh next week, and should be back at least by the visit to Baltimore that follows. … Third baseman Max Muncy (oblique) is set for at least a short minor-league rehab assignment and could return by the series in Baltimore, according to Roberts.
UP NEXT
Reds (LHP Nick Lodolo, 8-6, 3.05 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 0-1, 4.61 ERA), Wednesday, 5:40 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM