After dropping a weekend series to the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Dodgers continue their homestand by welcoming the Atlanta Braves for three games.
Julio Urias is scheduled to start in the series opener, and he’ll be followed by Walker Buehler and Max Scherzer the next two games. Each pitcher will be throwing on five days’ rest, which has been the norm for most Dodgers starters when they take their turn this season.
Despite getting an extra day of rest, both Buehler and Urias remain lined up to face the San Francisco Giants in this weekend’s pivotal three-game series at Oracle Park.
Had the Dodgers stuck to a more traditional four-day routine for their pitchers, it would have ensured Scherzer also make a start against the Giants. The opener of the series likely will now see L.A. rely on another bullpen game.
“It’s certainly going to be a big series, but I think making sure you take care of the guys — Julio and Walker, namely — as far as giving them an extra day, to understand and appreciate what they have in store for them the rest of the season, there’s still plenty of games that we’ve got to take care of our business,” manager Dave Roberts explained.
“Putting those two guys on the Giants, the thought is to make sure our guys are performing optimally and at optimum kind of rest and all that stuff. We’ll bet on that.”
Although the Dodgers regularly give their starters an extra day of rest, Roberts stopped short of deeming that the new norm for the organization. “I don’t know about that,” he said.
“I still think coming off of last year, and I don’t really want to go backward, but I think last year and understanding what guys are taking on this year, whenever you can kind of give them an extra day, curtail an inning here or there, it only seems like upside.
“We have done that more often than probably in a normal year, so the five days probably seems more normal.”
Roberts: Dodgers not ‘finishing innings’
By dropping two of three to the Rockies this past weekend, the Dodgers missed an opportunity to gain some ground on the Giants, who also lost their series against the Braves.
“I just think this series offensively was pretty frustrating, and the byproduct is we didn’t gain a couple games when we had opportunities,” Roberts said. “Regardless of how those guys play, if we’re not putting good at-bats together, building innings and finishing those innings, then it’s all moot.
“I think for us, it’s just continue to focus on ourselves, pitch and play good defense. I think we’re doing a very good job of, so now it’s just get the offense untracked.”
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