Last April, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said a strong starting rotation serves as a backbone for a team with World Series aspirations. The Dodgers proceeded to use 31 different pitchers last season, 15 of which were starters. That trailed only the 16 starting pitchers used by the Atlanta Braves.
Thus far in 2017, the Dodgers have called on six different starters. In games started by Clayton Kershaw or Brandon McCarthy the team is 5-1. When neither of the two take the hill the Dodgers are 3-9.
Saturday was another instance where Kershaw and McCarthy weren’t on the mound. Kenta Maeda failed to provide needed relief for the bullpen, and surrendered a career-high four home runs in five innings.
The Diamondbacks slugged their way to an 11-5 victory one night after routing the Dodgers, 13-5. Following the loss Roberts again reiterated his belief that strong starting pitching is monumental to success, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“I believe you win, you sustain winning with starting pitching, and I think those guys know that,” he said. “Have we pitched as well as we’re going to? No. Each day the pulse — whatever you want to call it — starts with the starting pitchers. It’s a big responsibility, those guys know it. We can’t expect Clayton [Kershaw] to be the only guy to throw seven or eight innings. [Brandon McCarthy] has done a good job. That’s why you have five starters and each day they have to give us a chance to win a baseball game. For me, that’s what they sign up for. It’s a big part of winning.”
Although the Dodgers planned to deal with Rich Hill’s troublesome blister(s) at some point, that it’s occurring this early in the season is a bit of a surprise. Alex Wood has made two spot starts in Hill’s absence, and the Dodgers in theory could call on Ross Stripling.
Scott Kazmir and Brock Stewart are still on the disabled list and neither is close to returning. Julio Urias figures to soon receive a promotion from Triple-A Oklahoma City, and in light of Roberts’ comments, could temporarily replace Maeda in the rotation.
Entering Sunday, the Dodgers starting pitchers rank 12th in the National League and 23rd overall with a combined 4.41 ERA. Their 96 innings pitched are also 12th and 23rd in the NL and Majors, respectively.
Only Kershaw (four times), McCarthy (twice) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (once) have completed six innings this season.
