Los Angeles Dodgers: First half grades for the Boys in Blue
By Evan Lovett
The Rotation
Juggling seven starting pitchers has proven to be one of the prevalent timelines for the Dodgers’ season. With the front office and Dave Roberts manipulating the Disabled List with aplomb – and some sleight of hand – they have essentially been able to utilize a six-man rotation, with Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda, Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood each making ten or more starts in addition to the stalwart Kershaw.
The sextet has combined for 39 of the Dodgers’ 53 wins – and this is without much of a contribution from wunderkind Julio Urias, who had season-ending surgery in June after making only five starts for the big club. Clayton Kershaw has been, well, Clayton Kershaw – posting 12 wins and a 2.32 ERA in his 116 1/3 innings. Alex Wood has been a revelation, earning eight wins against zero losses while striking out 79 in 67 2/3 innings and a sparkling 1.86 ERA.
After those two, the starters are a bit dicey – Brandon McCarthy has six wins and a deceptive 3.25 ERA, which has masked a recurrence of ‘the yips‘ that plagued him last summer. Like the remaining pitchers on the staff, he has been on and off of the disabled list. Kenta Maeda has a 6-3 record with a 4.15 ERA, but since shuttling to the bullpen has been aggressive and sharp, winning his last two starts. Ryu is 3-6 with a 4.21 ERA and has thrown the second most innings on the staff with 72 2/3 in his 13 starts.
The biggest disappointment thus far has been Rich Hill, whose blister problems have been an off-again, on-again occurrence that may or may not be affecting his control. In his ten starts, he’s only managed 47 innings, good enough for a 4-4 record. Hill has looked stronger recently, so there is hope that he can emerge as the second starter or at least a counterpoint to Alex Wood.
Regardless, the starters are not dominant outside of Kershaw. Wood has looked great and has proven to be a good starter in his past, so perhaps he emerges as an All-Star and reliable number two. A trade for somebody such as Chris Archer or Justin Verlander may be in the offing, however – it seems necessary as the Los Angeles Dodgers look to reach their first World Series since 1988.