The Los Angeles Dodgers opened camp with essentially seven pitchers vying to fill out the two remaining spots in the starting rotation. Entering a second week into Spring Training games, there doesn’t appear to be much separation.
On Friday, Brandon McCarthy became the latest starter to make his 2017 debut. Much like Scott Kazmir, his outing was filled with mixed results. McCarthy allowed a two-run homer to Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the first inning.
He bounced back to retire five straight, which included a 1-2-3 second inning. After his start the 33-year-old noted what went well and what went wrong, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“It was good just getting back in a game, back in game situations,” said McCarthy. “I had a little trouble controlling movement early, the pitches were moving a lot. The ball to Goldy started where I wanted and just shot across the zone. The second inning, I was a little more aware of it and changed the starting points to drive the ball where it needed to be. It was good to make those adjustments. In the bullpen [afterward], I just hammered home what I wanted to do.”
McCarthy was impressive through four starts last season after returning from Tommy John surgery, going 2-0 with a 1.61 ERA. However, he struggled with command and proceeded to walk a combined 20 batters over his next five starts.
McCarthy was put on the 15-day disabled list with a hip injury, and later admitted to suffering from a case of the yips. He started the Dodgers’ National League West-clinching game, though finished the regular season with a relief appearance.
Overall last season, the right-hander went 2-3 with a 4.95 ERA, 3.70 FIP and 1.38 WHIP in 10 games (nine starts). McCarthy has maintained he’s removed from last year’s struggles, which Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi and manager Dave Roberts recently corroborated.
