While the Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered the overall depth of their pitching staff during the offseason, injuries erased much of it and forced the club to rely on multiple starters from the Minors.
However, their fortune appears to have changed with the unofficial second half of the 2016 season underway. Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu returned to the rotation prior to the All-Star break, Clayton Kershaw is nearing a return, and Brett Anderson and Alex Wood should both come off the disabled list in August.
The depth is certainly welcomed but also leaves the Dodgers in somewhat of a predicament moving forward. Manager Dave Roberts has already shot down the idea of using a six-man rotation.
McCarthy acknowledged the forthcoming logjam is apparent but he doesn’t believe it’s similar to a Spring Training competition, according to Doug Padilla of ESPN:
“I think everybody (has a sense of it),” McCarthy said. “We have a lot of pitchers coming back, and coming back soon. It’s kind of on all of us to just keep pitching well. Everybody wants to earn their spot and show everything they can, but I don’t think it’s like a spring training situation; it’s just guys wanting to pitch well during a major league season.”
McCarthy has done his part to remain in the rotation, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, 1.98 FIP and 0.75 WHIP while striking out 22 and walking four in 16 innings over three starts. While the club has remained cautious with his workload, McCarthy is hopeful to expand on it in upcoming starts.
Assuming Dodgers starting pitchers reach full health as a group, the club will essentially have two rotation’s worth of arms.
