Needing to fill out their starting rotation behind Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t land any of the big fish — Jon Lester, Max Scherzer or James Shields — and instead signed Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy.
Both pitchers have a history of injury concerns, but when healthy, they are more than serviceable back-of-the-rotation starters. The Dodgers appear to have lost one, however as McCarthy said Monday the tear of the UCL in his right elbow was “well done.”
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly broke the news during his pregame media scrum, though he and McCarthy didn’t yet commit to Tommy John surgery. The right-hander’s season nonetheless has come to an end after just four starts.
McCarthy traced the elbow discomfort to his April 19 start, though believed it to be similar to pain he dealt with last season. However, his assessment changed during Saturday’s outing against the San Diego Padres as the pain progressively got worse.
Although the Dodgers wound up winning the game, with McCarthy improving to 3-0, he struggled to the tune of allowing six runs on six hits; including a pair of first-inning home runs and a third homer in the sixth before getting lifted.
Should McCarthy elect to undergo Tommy John surgery, he estimated a return would come near the midway point of the 2016 season. “I think it will be the typical timetable, probably 14 to 15 months,” he said.
“You kind of shoot for hopefully the All-Star break next year. If you can can push that a little bit and be agrressive then by all means, but they’ve become a little bit more cautious with that now.”
As for the Dodgers needing to pick up the pieces and push forward, McCarthy hopes they’ll be able to do so with ease. “I hope I’m easily replaceable,” he said.
“I hope someone comes up and does a great job in my absence. It sucks to know that comes at your expense, but that’s the whole point of having a good team.”
McCarthy was in the first of a four-year, $48 million contract. The Dodgers placed him on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Adam Liberatore from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
