The Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to round out their starting rotation by signing Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda netted mixed returns throughout Spring Training. Of course, spring results are often thrown by the wayside, which left some hope Kazmir would right the ship.
He threw six shutout innings against the San Diego Padres in his regular-season debut, but then struggled through a prolonged stretch of starts. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts continued to voice confidence in his left-hander, who appears to have turned the corner as of late.
Kazmir tossed in six scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs, unexpectedly going toe-to-toe with Jake Arrieta at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers withstood seven scoreless innings from Arrieta, and found success against the Cubs’ bullpen for a 5-0 victory.
After Kazmir’s strong showing against the Cubs, Roberts asserted the 32-year-old lefty is pitching to his expected level, per ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
“He’s back,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The ball has life and the changeup, he’s getting extension with the change and the fastball. The deception is there. He’s just really excited about the place he’s at. Even when he’s giving up runs, he’s throwing the ball well, so I think he’s been back and it’s exciting for us.”
Kazmir set a season high with 12 strikeouts against the Cincinnati Reds on May 25. He nearly threw a complete game against the St. Louis Cardinals, only getting removed after giving up a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning.
On the season Kazmir is 4-3 with a 4.38 ERA, 4.83 FIP and 1.21 WHIP. He’s allowed two earned runs or less in four of his past five starts. Kazmir’s importance grew in the wake of Alex Wood‘s injury, as he too had found his footing recently. Wood is expected to miss at least the next four weeks.
