Anderson is added to NL pitching staff
ANAHEIM » When the Dodgers opened the season, they had three National League All-Stars on their pitching staff.
No one would have guessed that two of them would be Tony Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson — not Walker Buehler and Julio Urias.
But Anderson was named to the NL team on Saturday, joining Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw on the All-Star pitching staff. Anderson was MLB’s choice as a replacement for San Francisco Giants left-hander Carlos Rodon, who was made unavailable by his team. Rodon pitched with a blood blister and a split nail on his left hand Thursday. The Giants have not placed him on the injured list and he is expected to start one of the games when the Dodgers and Giants open the second half of the season with a four-game series at Dodger Stadium next week.
“I think it’s a surprise to everyone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Anderson’s 10-1 record and 2.96 ERA in the first half. “Tyler was hoping, I’m sure, just to be healthy and come and help us win a championship. I don’t think that (the All-Star team) was on his mind either. Not to take anything away from what he can or can’t do. He’s clearly done the work. I think we’re all pleasantly surprised.”
Anderson signed a oneyear, $8 million contract with the Dodgers after the lockout ended in March, opting for the one-year deal over multi-year offers in order to pitch for a championship contender — even though he had no guaranteed spot in the rotation.
He started the year in the bullpen, “piggy-backing” with Gonsolin as the two built up their workloads following the lockout-shortened spring training. Anderson moved into the starting rotation when Andrew Heaney went to the IL with a shoulder injury after just two starts.
“For me, it really does just feel like I made a good decision to come here,” Anderson said. “Obviously I’d feel like that either way. But this is really validation for that, knowing that going into the offseason there were options to go somewhere else and maybe go for more years. Instead, I took a chance to come to this team.”
With three starting pitchers on the All-Star team, Roberts said the Dodgers haven’t settled on their rotation coming out of the break. Some part of that will depend on which of the three pitch in the game and how much they pitch.
Heaney rehab
Heaney made the first start of his second rehab assignment Saturday, pitching for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.
Heaney was pulled with two outs in the third inning, having thrown 48 pitches. He gave up four runs and six hits, including two home runs.
Out since June 19 with a recurrence of his shoulder injury, Heaney is expected to make at least one more rehab start before rejoining the Dodgers’ rotation.
Bullpen fliers
The Dodgers signed former Angels closer Hansel Robles to a minor-league contract this week after the 32-year-old right-hander was released by the Boston Red Sox earlier this month.
Robles has a career 4.11 ERA and 43 saves in parts of eight big-league seasons with the New York Mets, Angels, Minnesota Twins and Red Sox. Twenty-three of those saves came with the Angels in 2019 when he had a 2.48 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. In 26 appearances with the Red Sox this season, he was ineffective, posting a 5.84 ERA with 14 walks and five home runs in 24 2/3 innings.
Robles joins two other former big-leaguers in the Dodgers’ system who were once effective back-end relievers – Dellin Betances and Pedro Baez.
Betances, 34, is trying to return from serious shoulder issues. He joined Triple-A Oklahoma City last month and has a 6.14 ERA after eight appearances. A four-time All-Star with the New York Yankees, Betances has allowed five hits and walked five while striking out eight in 7 1/3 innings.
Baez, 34, was signed by the Dodgers after he was released by the Houston Astros in late April, having thrown just 6 2/3 innings for the Astros in two seasons. Baez has made four appearances for the Dodgers’ team in the Arizona Complex League, allowing one hit and striking out three in 4 1/3 innings.
Both Betances and Baez, however, have shown velocity that is significantly diminished from their bigleague days.