The Los Angeles Dodgers’ need for a fifth starter persists as they’ve now lost Brett Anderson (back surgery) and Mike Bolsinger (oblique strain) to injury during Spring Training. Anderson’s recovery time is three to five months, while Bolsinger’s is more fluid.
The situation is similar to last season when season-ending injuries to Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy left the Dodgers without rotation depth. Bolsinger and Carlos Frias led the charge to fill the vacancies, but neither were consistent performers.
Along with Brandon Beachy and Zach Lee, Bolsinger was part of the conversation to temporarily replace Anderson. Bolsinger’s injury has of course changed that.
While he believed a quick return was possible, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the right-hander will not recover in time for Opening Day.
With Bolsinger unavailable, the Dodgers will first turn to Frias as the fifth starter, with him scheduled to take the mound Friday against the San Francisco Giants, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Fifth-starter candidate Carlos Frias will start Friday night's Dodgers game against the Giants.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 24, 2016
In five spring games, Frias has given up four earned runs 10.2 innings. He has allowed eight his and walked one while striking out seven. His longest appearance thus far was three innings pitched in the game he started.
Last season, Frias started 13 of 17 games with the Dodgers. He was 5-5 with a 4.06 ERA, 4.32 FIP and 1.47 WHIP. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said Frias and Lee are at the forefront of the conversation to be the team’s fifth starter.
