Heading into the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting pitching was a bit of a question mark. The rotation was filled with ambiguity after Zack Greinke left for the Arizona Diamondbacks and injuries sidelined the likes of Brett Anderson and Mike Bolsinger, while Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu remained on the comeback trail from last year’s surgeries.
Questions centered around the rotation’s depleted depth, and whether the Dodgers should call on one of their highly-touted prospects in Jose De Leon or Julio Urias as the fifth starter. The club instead went with Ross Stripling, their fifth-round pick in the 2012 draft.
Through the first 10 games of the season, Dodgers’ starting pitchers have a combined 2.45 ERA, which ranks third-best in the Majors. Their 0.88 WHIP and .185 opponent’s batting average are both ranked second overall.
Even though Los Angeles starters have gone a combined 4-1, the club continues to be plagued by an inconsistent bullpen. After Pedro Baez and Chris Hatcher recently failed to protect a slim lead, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he wasn’t yet ready to change rolls.
On the night Kenley Jansen recorded the first five-out save of his career, Roberts again discussed his bullpen, but made it clear that the rotation will be the difference in the long run, via Doug Padilla of ESPN:
“I think that people talk a lot about the pen and what the Royals did, shortening the game and all of that stuff, but at the core of winning a championship it’s about starting pitching,” Roberts said. “You have to pitch and you have to lean on those guys and you have to catch the baseball for them. So to have a great outing from each of these guys at some point, it’s good for them, it’s good for us and we will lean on those guys.”
After Ross Stripling turned in six innings on Thursday, J.P. Howell and Yimi Garcia combined for two innings of relief, allowing a combined one hit and collecting three strikeouts. Jansen then shut the door in the ninth to earn a second consecutive save.
Now Los Angeles gets another look at the rival San Francisco Giants in a three-game series that begins Friday night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers held a lead in three of the four games played at AT&T Park last week, but only came away with one win.
