While it seems like Opening Day was not that long ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers are more than a quarter of the way through the 2019 season. Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals is their 42nd of the year.
Part of the reason that the Dodgers have gotten to that mark so quickly is because they have had the fewest amount of off days in baseball, although that is about to change. Despite the heavy schedule, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is generally pleased with his club’s play.
After going through stretches of 17, nine and 10 straight games, the Dodgers will have four days off in the next two weeks, beginning Monday.
With the upcoming breaks in their schedule, Roberts said the team will likely adjust their starting rotation to provide pitchers with extra rest, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“With the off days to kind of keep things in line, there’s a cost as far as rest and that stuff,” said Roberts. “We’ll do what’s best for each individual pitcher. There might be some rest involved. It’s a long season. You’ve got to protect the pitchers. If something’s going on, you’ve got to get ahead of it.”
It’s somewhat difficult to project which pitchers will be given those extra days considering all five of the team’s starters can benefit from it. Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu have both spent time on the injured list this season with shoulder and groin injuries, respectively, so they would be the prime candidates.
Walker Buehler also dealt with a shoulder issue during Spring Training after setting a career high in innings last year. He has said that he hopes to throw 200 innings this season, but considering he is perhaps the most prized young arm in the organization, it would not be surprising to see him be pushed back.
Regardless of who gets the extra time off, the Dodgers’ starting rotation looks to be in good shape moving forward after a rough start to the season health-wise.
