At least Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre was able to keep a few arms fresh in the bullpen Sunday afternoon.
Despite Clayton Kershaw’s brilliant 2-0 win over the Colorado Rockies Sunday, Torre remains uncertain about his starters Tuesday and beyond, as the Dodgers open up a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks Monday.
Heading into Saturday night’s game, Carlos Monasterios seemed to be the logical candidate to take the hill on Tuesday, but Charlie Haeger failed to record an out in the first inning, and Monasterios was called upon to relieve Ramon Ortiz in the sixth for a two-inning mop-up appearance, as the Dodgers fell to Colorado, 8-0.
Chad Billingsley will start Monday’s series opener in Arizona, and Haeger, who only threw 22 pitches in facing five batters Saturday before being yanked, may have been the best option for game two, because he would have had the freshest arm among all of the other starting pitchers.
However, as of Sunday morning, is was brought to Torre’s attention that Haeger may have a problem with his right heel, and could possibly be headed to the disabled list.
“I haven’t talked to Charlie today, but I talked to [head trainer] Stan Conte and he’s been getting work on a heel,” Torre said. “We’ll visit that and see what we get going there.”
That allows the door to open for 24-year-old righty John Ely, who despite pitching a solid six and two-thirds innings against the Brewers on Thursday, was optioned to triple-A affiliate Albuquerque the next day.
Many folks in Dodgerland were disappointed with the decision to demote Ely, as he demonstrated bright potential in one of the few quality starts the Dodgers have seen all season.
Under normal circumstances, Ely would have been ineligible to return for at least 10 days, but under MLB rules, a player may be recalled within that window if another player of the same position ends up on the disabled list.
Some people near, or about the Santa Monica area, claim that Ely remained in Los Angeles all along, and a Tuesday start had been in the making for him since Saturday evening.
Regardless, many Dodgers fans feel that more moves need to be made by Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti to obtain an additional quality starter, or at least tidy up the current staff by sticking to a core rotation.
Meanwhile, the news on Opening Day starter Vicente Padilla doesn’t look positive.
Padilla did some light throwing Sunday at Dodger Stadium, but isn’t expected back until June.
“I think it’s certainly fixable, and it’s just a matter of when that happens. It will happen,” Torre said. “It’s just a matter of when. I can’t give you that right now. But we certainly need for that to happen at some point this year and we need to stay close enough so that when it does happen it’ll make a big impact on us.”
But will the Dodgers stay in contention?
The starters, who should be their three most reliable, Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, and up until Sunday, Clayton Kershaw, have all struggled in recent starts.
That’s why many think the Dodgers must look outside the franchise, and obtain a starter to stay on pace with the strong pitching of the San Francisco Giants, and the balance of the San Diego Padres.
As the season can no longer be considered “young,” any roster decision made now is critical. If no consistency is established soon with the troubled pitching staff, the July 30 trade deadline may arrive too late.
The next two weeks very well may dictate where the Dodgers finish in the NL West.
And after having come so close to the World Series the past two seasons, Dodger fans don’t expect anything less.
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