Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described Brandon McCarthy as ‘relentless’ after he threw seven innings of two-run baseball against the Arizona Diamondbacks last month. Roberts reiterated that same sentiment following McCarthy’s performance on Sunday afternoon.
“I liked his aggressiveness. He filled up the strike zone and was on the attack,” Roberts said. “Getting ahead of hitters with the fastball or breaking ball, he was relentless today.”
McCarthy went six innings on an efficient 75 pitches. He allowed one run on three hits, issued one walk and finished with five strikeouts. It was a bounce-back performance of sorts after two consecutive subpar starts.
“Mostly, I was commanding it very well,” said McCarthy of keeping the Miami Marlins in check. “Yasmani did a great job with pitch-calling, which allowed me to focus on executing. There wasn’t any second-guessing or overthinking, he did the heavy lifting there. It was just trying to make the ball go where it was supposed to.”
While McCarthy had largely sailed through the game, he was lifted in favor of a pinch-hitter with two runners on. The decision paid off, as Brett Eibner delivered a two-run single. Roberts suggested there wasn’t much thought given to leaving McCarthy in the game.
“I like when pitchers have an outing where they can feel good about things and build on it,” Roberts explained. That sat perfectly fine with the 33-year-old. “I have no idea where I’m at during any point in the game,” McCarthy said.
“It’s all kind of relative. There’s days where 75 (pitches) feels like 120, and 100 feels like 70. I don’t know where I’m at, I don’t really ever look. I’m a big trust the manager in those situations. I don’t like to campaign for it.”
In again effusing praise for McCarthy’s mentality, Roberts likened the right-hander to Clayton Kershaw. “His preparedness is parallel to Clayton, and that speaks volumes,” Roberts said.
McCarthy attributed his laser-like focus this year to an offseason that did not require him to rehab from an injury. “I could focus on myself and pitching again, instead of just focusing on my arm,” he said.
