If results were any indication of what was to come, the Los Angeles Dodgers presumably would have soon called an end to the competition and named Mike Bolsinger the club’s fifth starter for the regular season.
However, Bolsinger was a game-time scratch from his scheduled start on Sunday due what was announced at the time as tightness on his left side, but in actuality may be a strained oblique.
No more than 30 minutes prior to the pitching change, the Dodgers optioned Zach Lee to Minor League camp. On Friday, Brandon Beachy labored through a start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, putting a dent in his chances to be selected as the fifth starter.
On top of the frustration that came with struggling through the outing, Beachy now will be inactive for a brief period of time as he’s suffering from tendinitis in his throwing arm, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Non-roster pitcher Brandon Beachy will take a few days off because of mild tendinitis in his right arm, but he isn’t concerned that his twice-repaired elbow has been compromised.
While he isn’t concerned, Beachy did express frustration over the minor injury:
“Obviously, I don’t want to take a couple of days off, and it’s a little frustrating, but I’m not worried in the long run,” said Beachy, who has endured two Tommy John surgeries. “This is just an accumulation of things, and I tried to push through it, and now I have to pull back a bit. Everybody deals with things like that.”
Beachy threw 40 pitches in the second inning and didn’t retire any of the three batters faced in the third. His velocity dropped during the final frame he worked, and the right-hander issued four walks.
Beachy was highly critical of his inability to locate pitches and when asked if he came out of the start healthy responded, “Yeah, I think so.”
In two starts with the Dodgers last season, Beachy allowed seven runs on 10 hits, with six walks and five strikeouts in eight innings. He was 1-1 with a 3.64 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 10 games (nine starts) with Oklahoma City.
