Tyler Glasnow was removed early from his start on Sunday because of right shoulder discomfort, requiring Ben Casparius to unexpectedly pitch bulk innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 9-2 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The right-hander allowed just two hits and collected five strikeouts over 3.2 scoreless innings. Casparius owns a perfect 3-0 record with a 2.91 ERA, 1.94 FIP and 0.92 WHIP in 21.2 innings pitched so far this season.
Given his ability to log multiple innings and the Dodgers’ need for starting pitching, manager Dave Roberts said the team is considering moving Casparius to the rotation.
“Yeah, it’s a thought. It’s a thought. He gave us four innings today, he’s unflappable, he flooded the strike zone and he saved our tails,” Roberts said of Casparius.
“Our bullpen is in a great spot going into this next series. The bullpen has just done a fantastic job this year. I can’t say enough about what they’ve done. To take the ball in the second innings and have to go four innings, it’s pretty remarkable. What’s Ben’s done, what all those guys have done, is fantastic.”
Casparius built up as a starter in Spring Training before shifting back to a relief role. Now with a potential move to the rotation on the horizon, he credited Dodgers pitching coaches for helping him adjust.
“I think a lot of it is just load management with what I’m doing every day,” Casparius said. “And obviously the communication between the coaches and me, and what they’re expecting, has been really good.”
When would Ben Casparius possibly become Dodgers starter?
Given the current state of the rotation, the Dodgers would appear to have a relatively immediate need for Casparius even with Tony Gonsolin coming off the injured list to make his season debut on Wednesday.
However, it’s going to be at least another handful of days before Casparius possibly joins the Dodgers rotation, if that change is made at all.
“I think right now, we’ll kind of go through the rotation for the next week and see how it looks,” Roberts said. “Obviously, Ben is going to be down for the Miami series and then knowing that we’ve got him up to 50 pitches or something like that, we’ll see the need at that point in time.
“Things change quite a bit. I don’t think anyone right now can say where he’s going to be slotted in. We’ll kind of get through this next series and then see where we’re at as far as the staff.”
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