Gavin Stone turned in another poor outing on Friday, continuing a trend of poor performances for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starter.
Stone went just four innings and allowed five runs on eight hits against the Oakland Athletics. He has now allowed at least four earned runs in four of his previous five outings, which gives him an ERA of 7.15 over that span.
In July, Stone posted a 6.27 ERA, and that number has regressed to 11.25 in August, albeit just one start. However, prior to the All-Star Break, Stone held a 3.26 ERA in 17 starts.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted it could be an issue with fatigue, but Stone has denied that as a possibility, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“He’s been our most consistent starter as far as taking the baseball, giving us length. But I think if you look back at, since that (shutout) … it hasn’t been what he was doing the first few months of the season,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s fatigue. Everything I hear from our guys, he still feels strong and the fastball velocity at times during an outing is right in line with where it has been. That’s a good thing.
“I don’t know if it’s fatigue, but it very well could be.”
The 25-year-old has thrown 111.2 innings this season, which is approaching his career-high of 121.2 innings during the 2022 season across three Minor League levels.
Still, Stone belies his issues have just come down to execution, rather than anything to do with how he feels physically:
“I’m just not executing in certain counts, certain situations,” Stone said. “I feel good with all my pitches. I’m just not executing in certain situations.”
Regardless, Stone may be in line for some time off coming up. The Dodgers are close to adding Walker Buehler back into their rotation, and the addition of Jack Flaherty has added more depth and talent to the mix.
Getting Stone back on track will be important for a Dodgers’ rotation that has many question marks related to both their health and production, so some time to reset could do him some good.
Gavin Stone thinks hitters have adjusted to him
Stone previously said he feels better now than he did at the beginning of the season, but hitters have made adjustments against him. It’s now up to Stone to adjust back and make better pitches.
If fatigue is truly not an issue, it’s encouraging for his outlook moving forward as it’s easier to make adjustments than it is to get healthy again.
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