Dodgers Pitching Situation Starting To Get Scary
- Updated: March 27, 2015
(Image via Twitter)
Hyun-jin Ryu, slated to be one of the Dodgers most important starters this season, will rest for the next two weeks after having an MRI on his injured left shoulder. There’s currently no timetable for his return to the mound and he’ll certainly miss a portion of the season.
Erik Bedard, a questionable rotation depth option brought in as a non-roster invitee, strained a muscle in his back while throwing Saturday and will now miss four to six weeks recovering from the injury.
Chad Gaudin, another depth signing, injured his throwing biceps pitching Saturday during a game. Though he is still throwing, it’ll be an abbreviated path for the next week or two leading up to the season.
Clayton Kershaw was hit in the face with a line drive last week, and though he stayed in the game afterwards, he had to have dental work done after the game.
Obviously, Kershaw’s injury isn’t like the other three; it’s a freak thing that could happen to anybody, but isn’t particularly likely. (But it does underscore the point that weird stuff sometimes happens on the field and depth is imperative when it comes to hurlers.)
Besides Kershaw, though, the other three walking wounded in Dodger blue should concern everybody, not only because of the injuries themselves, but because of what it’s making of the Dodgers rotation. Behind Kershaw and Zack Greinke, there’s only Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy as quality big league starters, with Ryu now out for the foreseeable future.
And those two – Anderson and McCarthy – aren’t sure things to stay healthy, themselves. Depending on them to make 60+ starts this year is a gamble, but it’s one the Dodgers are now forced to take because they simply haven’t acquired enough depth behind their big three at the top of the rotation to survive.
With Bedard out, Gaudin questionable, and Brandon Beachy not returning for at least several more months, the cupboard is getting bare for the club when it tries to find starters to take the hill come April.
Under no circumstances should Juan Nicasio be used as a starter, as he profiles much better as a reliever. With other options like Carlos Frias, Joe Wieland and Mike Bolsinger, the choices aren’t exactly ideal.
I’ve been on the trade-Alex-Guerrero campaign for the better part of a few weeks (here and here), because he’s redundant on a roster with Justin Turner (and now Hector Olivera, for goodness sake!), and because he could potentially fetch a decent return with the way he hits the ball.
At this point in the spring, the Dodgers may not have other options but to trade Guerrero (or someone) for a pitcher. There aren’t many quality starters floating in late March free agency, and the ones that are have red flags. For example, former Colorado Rockies starter Jhoulys Chacin, released by the club last week, would be a good buy-low rotation depth option if not for the fact that something is not right with his shoulder. Avoid Chacin.
Injuries to pitchers are inevitable, though, and the Dodgers should have seen this coming. They can spend money better than anybody in baseball, and they’ve compiled a smart set of position players, but their starting pitching depth is atrocious. It’ll be interesting to see just how hard this comes back to bite the Dodgers once the season begins.
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