Over the past three seasons the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation had a dependable safety net in the form of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. After Greinke bolted for the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers signed Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda to help fill the void.
To this point, Kershaw and Maeda have been the lone reliable starters in 2016. Scott Kazmir, second in the Dodgers’ rotation, has battled a left thumb/wrist injury that’s impacted his ability to get on top of pitches.
Kazmir’s best outing was his debut this season — six scoreless innings against the San Diego Padres. Since then, he’d yet to toss more than five innings and allowed at least four runs in three starts that followed.
To his credit, Kazmir improved on that despite a rocky first inning on Wednesday. He managed to get through six frames while allowing just two runs — both of which were scored in the first.
Alex Wood has been inconsistent, and so too has Ross Stripling, though that’s to be expected from a rookie. When recently asked if he’d use upcoming off days to elevate Maeda to the No. 2 starter, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t rule out the possibility.
However, Roberts indicated any changes would likely center around skipping over Stripling due to his innings limit. “Right now, we’re talking about possibly moving some things around,” Roberts said.
“As it stands now, we’re going to keep guys on their regular turns. We’re thinking about with Ross, his usage and things like that. It’s something that’s still definitely in its infancy, but there’s some conversation to figure out what’s best for our club.”
Roberts acknowledged starting pitchers not named Kershaw haven’t exactly taken pressure off the bullpen. “I think those guys will be the first to tell you, we have to get length. To win a lot of games and to go deep in the postseason, we can’t beat up our pen,” he said.
“That starts with starting pitching, and we have to get length. I have to think about the pen usage and trying to win that night, there’s a fine balance. I do believe going forward the guys will give us the length we need.”
After concluding their seven-game homestand on Sunday, the Dodgers have Monday off — prior to a two-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays — and also don’t play Thursday, May 5 after concluding the series in Tampa. May 26 is the third and final off day for the Dodgers next month.
