USA TODAY International Edition
Lefties give Dodgers pros, cons
Trio offer great talent, caveats
Starting Monday, the Los Angeles Dodgers will do what any other baseball team would be envious of: They will roll out two uber- talented and productive pitchers and have one available in the bullpen — all left- handers — and show off an almost gluttonous level of wealth.
With Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Julio Urias, the Dodgers own three of the best pitchers in the sport. With a five- game lead in the National League West despite losing Sunday, they also had the luxury of knowing a playoff spot is nearly theirs. Yet despite what should be a simple and comfortable last few weeks of the regular season, they must walk a tightrope going into October.
If nothing else, the Dodgers again have learned this year that $ 300 million can’t buy you certainty. Each of those three pitchers has his own unique issue and leaves the Dodgers watching each carefully from here on out.
With Kershaw, the Dodgers have an ace returning from a herniated disk in his back that forced him to miss more than two months of the season and trying to ramp up to his usual form by the postseason.
With Hill, the Dodgers have arguably the best pitcher in the majors this season but one who can barely stay on the mound. He has a 1.48 ERA with the Dodgers since he was acquired in August, but he also has been limited to four starts because of a blister problem that got him pulled from a perfect game bid Sept. 10.
With Urias, who was sent to the bullpen to limit his innings, the Dodgers have an unvarnished raw talent.
This has left the Dodgers with many variables to bear and plenty of questions hanging over them.
“It’s a big part of the equation,” manager Dave Roberts said. “With Hill and the blister, Kershaw and the back — obviously when those guys are at full strength we’re a considerably better team. So that’s what we’re preparing for and expecting, but if something unforeseen happens, then we’ve got to be prepared for that, too.”
Kershaw was dominant in his last start, allowing one hit over five innings against the New York Yankees and even waiting out a 48- minute rain delay to get his work in. Still, despite making 64 pitches and his own hedge that satisfaction is difficult to gauge in a short outing, the game had all the trappings of a classic Kershaw appearance.
“Clayton was Clayton,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “We saw the good Clayton Kershaw today. His stuff was really good.”
While Kershaw’s return seems more linear — more innings, more starts, more progress until he’s ready for the NL Division Se- ries — there is more to consider with Hill. He has been brilliant yet unreliable this season. His 2.06 ERA has come in 18 cumulative starts for the Oakland Athletics and Dodgers, and he has been sidelined with multiple injuries. Keeping him healthy and able for the playoffs has become Roberts’ top job for the rest of the month.
Hill’s importance to the Dodgers cannot be overstated. Since re- emerging in the majors last year, he has become one of the best pitchers in baseball and would be a certain Cy Young Award candidate if he had more than 1001⁄3 innings. He also makes for a certifiable ace in the Dodgers rotation, along with Kershaw.
It would be a 1- 2 combination formidable enough to at least scare the Chicago Cubs.
The Dodgers have other worries heading into October — they’ve been woeful against lefthanded pitching offensively — but keeping Hill’s finger blister- free is a chief concern. He is scheduled to start against the NL West second- place San Francisco Giants on Tuesday, and if the Dodgers create a large enough gap between them and their chief rival by then, it could allow them leeway to massage Hill into the playoffs.
But they have already transitioned into their postseason plan for Urias. The 20- year- old lefty made his final regular- season start Tuesday before heading to the bullpen. Though it deprives the Dodgers of a prodigy in the rotation, it maintains the possibility that Urias might be the one to pitch key innings in the NLDS for a bullpen that has been productive ( second- lowest ERA in baseball) yet weathered ( secondmost innings thrown).
Such a combination of risks has left the Dodgers with little to do other than devise a regimen and stick to it. They are aware of the possible pitfalls but assuming and hoping for the best.
“We can’t think about them,” first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. “We can only go out and play. I’m not going to sit here and be like, ‘ Oh, I hope you don’t get hurt, I hope you don’t get hurt.’
“They’re going to do whatever they need to do to be ready, and we need to go out there and win games and get in the playoffs. Hopefully they’re 100% and ready to do well.”