Merry Go Round Rotation

Phil Gurnee ♦ August 11, 2016 ♦ 3 Comments

One day Rich Hill is pitching one day he is not. Over and over the merry go round goes, when Rich Hill will actually pitch no one knows. Might as well call him Scratch Hill at this point.

The Dodgers have had two constants in the rotation all year, Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir. Having Scott Kazmir in the rotation all year hasn’t exactly been a good thing but at least he takes the ball every fifth game. So far anyway.

Twelve pitchers have started for the Dodgers this year, but the two they need the most are not the one’s taking the mound. The Dodgers acquired Rich Hill to be the big arm they might need to help overtake the Giants and twelve days later he can’t seem to mend his blisters. Kershaw is starting to throw again, but we all know what happened last time, so holding our breath for a healthy Kershaw might just turn us blue.

At this rate, Julio Urias might make more starts than Clayton Kershaw. He’s only five behind right now and one is not trying for the second time to come back from a back problem.

Of the twelve starters to take the mound this year, we can write off Mike Bolsinger and Nick Tepesch for the year since neither are in the organization anymore. We can reasonably write off Hyun-jin Ryu and Alex Wood. At some point, Julio Urias won’t be allowed to pitch anymore, and that point is coming up. Brandon McCarthy is starting to scare fans with his lack of control after coming back from Tommy John surgery.

The patchwork rotation can’t get more than fifteen outs per start and this weekend they will be sending out three starters that just getting fifteen outs will be a victory.

Ross Stripling has been more than a finger in the dike, but Ross hasn’t gotten more than 15 outs since May 8th. Following Ross on Saturday will either by Brandon McCarthy coming off of two horrible outings or brand new 20-year-old  Julio Urias. Neither can be expected to get more than fifteen outs.  On Sunday Brett Anderson will be forced into the rotation making his first start of the year. Fifteen outs will be his max on Sunday.  When/If Rich Hill ever makes a start you can bet he won’t be going deep since he hasn’t started in over a month.

Can the bullpen survive this type of rotation in the hot days of August?

Can a team yearning for Bud Norris actually be considered a postseason contender?

Can a team counting on a pitcher just returning from back surgery actually be considered a postseason contender?

Can a team counting on a pitcher returning from Tommy John surgery actually be considered a postseason contender?

Can a team counting on a pitcher returning from a herniated disk actually be considered a postseason contender?

Can a team counting on a pitcher who hasn’t pitched 100 innings since 2007 and already has 75 actually be considered a postseason contender?

The answer seems to be Yes. Nothing quite like Dodger baseball.