Gavin Stone making his MLB debut in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies had a ripple effect on the rest of the starting rotation, including most notably Noah Syndergaard.
Clayton Kershaw started on an extra day of rest in the Dodgers’ series opener against the Padres at Petco Park, and Dustin May and Julio Urías, respectively, followed him the next two games.
That meant Tony Gonsolin and Syndergaard were given an extended break before their next turns in the rotation. For Gonsolin, that came Monday at American Family Field. Now Syndergaard is due to start against the Brewers on Tuesday.
Syndergaard last pitched on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals and gave up three runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings of work. He didn’t record a strikeout and induced hardly any swing and miss, but in some sense it was a bounce-back from his previous outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates that saw him allow seven runs and nine hits over four innings pitched.
“The default I guess is mechanics,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the extra rest between starts for Syndergaard. “There’s some mechanical things we want to continue to work through.
“I think giving him a couple days of potential bullpens in between a start, I think will allow for that reset. He pitched fine his last turn, which was I think his best in a handful of starts, but there’s certainly more in there and Noah expects more of himself too.”
Roberts explained that the long layoff allows Syndergaard an opportunity to reset both mentally and physically. “A little bit of both,” Roberts began. “I think it’s something that after his last start we talked about and just felt it made the most sense.
“I think it’s something that we’ve talked about all spring. I don’t want to get into all the specifics, but it’s something that we’ve talked about all spring and through the beginning part of the season.”
Noah Syndergaard not concerned with lack of strikeouts
Syndergaard did not record a strikeout in his start against the Cardinals and has only 21 in 31.1 innings pitched this season.
“It doesn’t really matter to me,” the right-hander said after his last start. “I’m just more focused on getting outs.”
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