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The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t merely tread water in Clayton Kershaw‘s absence. They went full Michael Phelps and splashed into the lead.

When Kershaw last pitched for the Dodgers on June 26—before his back betrayed him—they were 41-36, eight games behind the hated San Francisco Giants in the National League West.

Entering play Tuesday, L.A. sat in first place, 1.5 games up on San Francisco. 

That’s partly because the Giants have stumbled, going 14-26 since the All-Star break. But give credit to the Dodgers roster for showing resilience and to rookie skipper Dave Roberts for keeping the wheels on.

Now, the really good news for the Chavez Ravine faithful: Kershaw thew a pair of simulated innings without a setback on Tuesday, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. 

“My guess is that Kersh will want to pitch in a major league game tomorrow,” said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, per McCullough. “With the time he’s missed, my guess would be the next step would be a minor league assignment. I think it will take a little bit of time to build him up in a way for him to be strong through September and hopefully October, as well.”

The words “Kershaw” and “October” occupying the same sentence should leave Dodgers fans salivating.

There are no guarantees, obviously. This herniated disc has been a nagging bane for Kershaw, costing the three-time Cy Young Award winner two months and counting. Rust and recurrence are always concerns, even for the best pitcher on the planet.

A Kershaw revival, however, makes this Los Angeles rotation exponentially more dangerous. 

Rich Hill, whom the Dodgers acquired at the trade deadline, made his belated debut Aug. 24 after struggling with a blister, tossing six scoreless frames in a 1-0 win over the Giants. 

Japanese import Kenta Maeda has been the team’s most consistent starter with a 3.38 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 146.2 innings. And rookie Julio Urias has allowed just one earned run with 14 strikeouts in his last 12 innings.

Add Kershaw, and you’re looking at a potentially fearsome group.

He’s not the only Dodgers hurler on the comeback trail. Brett Anderson (blister), Scott Kazmir (neck irritation), Brandon McCarthy (hip stiffness) and Alex Wood (elbow soreness) are all working their way back as well, per Michael Duarte of NBC Los Angeles.  

Soon, the Dodgers could be swimming in starting pitching depth. That’s a best-case scenario. Given the raft of injuries the club has weathered so far, L.A.’s front office should be rubbing rabbits’ feet and knocking on the conference table until their knuckles bleed.

Even if Kershaw is the sole cavalry, though, the Dodgers will take it and smile.

The offense is clicking, posting the NL’s second-best OPS (.779) since the All-Star break behind shortstop and Rookie of the Year favorite Corey Seager, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and third baseman Justin Turner. 

The bullpen, anchored by All-Star closer Kenley Jansen, is tied for the best ERA (3.35) in the Senior Circuit.

Now, insert Kershaw. The Dodgers have gone 14-2 in his starts this season and 59-56 in their other games. His 5.5 WAR is tops among all pitchers, despite his protracted DL stint. 

We could keep lobbing stats at you, but what’s the point? Kershaw is great. Like death, taxes and gravity, it’s an ironclad inevitability, assuming he’s healthy.

That’s an assumption until we see him square off against big league hitters.

You can psychoanalyze his reportedly tearful reaction, as McCullough reported, to the trade of veteran catcher A.J. Ellis, which the New York Times‘ Tyler Kepner, among others, called into question:

You can point to his career 4.59 postseason ERA as proof he won’t necessarily carry the Dodgers to the World Series promised land, no matter whether his back is right. The potent Chicago Cubs, resurgent Washington Nationals and even-year Giants all lie in wait, after all.

Set that aside, though. Kershaw is a generational talent. The Dodgers have gained significant ground in the standings without him. They’re now poised to get him back.

Forget treading water. Think full splash ahead.

All satistics current as of Aug. 30 and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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The San Francisco Giants accomplished a rare feat in Sunday’s 13-4 win over the Atlanta Braves, joining the Cleveland Indians as the only teams to record three triples in an inning this season, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Sunday’s outburst occurred during an eight-run seventh inning, with shortstop Brandon Crawford and outfielders Jarrett Parker and Conor Gillaspie each contributing three-baggers.

San Francisco finished the inning with seven hits, three walks and a hit batsman, highlighted by Parker’s two-run triple, Eduardo Nunez’s solo home run and Gorkys Hernandez’s two-run double.

The massive rally turned a 5-3 lead into a 13-3 rout, though the Braves did bounce back with a lone run later on.

The Giants finished the game with four triples, as first baseman Brandon Belt smacked his seventh of the season earlier in the contest, helping the Giants take an early 2-1 lead in the second inning.

San Francisco has the second-most triples (45) of any team this season, joined in the top three by a pair of National League West rivals—the Arizona Diamondbacks (50) and Colorado Rockies (36).

It’s probably not a coincidence that the division has seen so many triples this season, as every team besides Arizona has a spacious ballpark that can turn some doubles into three-baggers.

The Diamondbacks have the advantage of speed, ranking fourth in the majors in stolen bases (108), whereas the Giants are 14th (65) and the Rockies 18th (55).

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San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence suffered a hamstring injury on Aug. 26. However, he has been cleared to return. 

Continue for updates.

Pence Active vs. Diamondbacks

Tuesday, Aug. 30

Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area reported Pence will play against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

Injury-Prone Pence Still Productive Offensive Force 

Pence played in only 52 games in 2015 after starting the season on the disabled list because of a fractured left forearm. He also suffered a hamstring injury earlier this season that forced him to miss time.

Prior to the injury, Pence hit .273 with eight home runs and 41 RBI in 2016 after hitting .275 with nine home runs and 40 RBI last year.

When healthy, Pence is an important part of the San Francisco lineup. He is a three-time All-Star and boasted seven straight years with at least 20 home runs before his injury-plagued 2015. Pence also has two seasons with a batting average above .300 and six seasons with double-digit stolen bases on his resume.

Still, the Giants are on the short list of National League teams with realistic World Series aspirations, and they could use a healthy Pence anchoring the lineup on a daily basis down the stretch. 

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The San Francisco Giants have lost some pitching depth heading into the season’s final month, as Jake Peavy has gone on the disabled list.  

Continue for updates. 

Peavy Lands on 15-Day DL

Saturday, Aug. 27

Per the Giants’ official Twitter account, Peavy is suffering from a strained lower back. The team recalled Albert Suarez to start Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. 

After he struggled as a starter, the Giants moved Peavy to the bullpen earlier this month. He hasn’t been any better in that role, posting a 6.75 ERA in eight relief appearances, but he was going to get the start on Saturday with Matt Cain still on the disabled list. 

The injuries to San Francisco’s starting rotation are just part of the problem for this team in the second half.

After going into the All-Star break with the best record in Major League Baseball (57-33), the Giants have gone 13-25 over their last 38 games and trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game in the National League West. 

Peavy seemed to resurrect his career with the Giants after they acquired him in a trade during the 2014 season. He helped the team win the World Series two years ago and posted a 3.58 ERA in 19 starts last season. 

This year, Peavy’s age (35) and mileage on his right arm have caught up with him. The Giants still have a strong trio atop their rotation with Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, but the team has to go deep into the vault just to get through the days when those three aren’t on the mound.

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Scott Van Slyke’s disappointing season will come to a premature end, as the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder will have surgery on his ailing right wrist. 

Continue for updates. 

Van Slyke Confirms Surgery

Saturday, Aug. 27

Per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, Van Slyke will miss the rest of 2016. Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register added that Van Slyke said his surgery is scheduled for Sept. 1, and the arthroscopic procedure will clear out cysts and scar tissue in his wrist. 

Wrist problems have plagued Van Slyke dating back to 2015. He didn’t play in the National League Division Series against the New York Mets last season with inflammation. 

After appearing in four games in the first week of this season, he was placed on the disabled list with wrist irritation. He was out for nearly two months before being activated prior to a June 3 game against the Atlanta Braves when Yasiel Puig was injured. 

Earlier this month, Van Slyke went back on the DL with wrist irritation. The Dodgers moved him to the 60-day disabled list on Aug. 25, officially ending any hope of his returning before the regular season ended. 

The injuries have taken a toll on Van Slyke’s performance. He had a career-high .910 OPS in 98 games during the 2014 season, but that number fell to .700 in 2015 and to .606 this season. 

The Dodgers outfield has been a mess all season, with Howie Kendrick being the only stable presence. Joc Pederson is turning things around in the second half, while Josh Reddick is still acclimating himself to his new team. 

The 30-year-old Van Slyke finds himself in a precarious position because he’s eligible for arbitration this winter for the first time, but his struggles the last two seasons could make him a potential non-tender candidate. 

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The second half of the season has not been kind to the San Francisco Giants, to put it mildly.

Since the All-Star break, they’ve gone 11-25 with a minus-29 run differential and watched a 6.5-game lead over the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers evaporate into a three-game deficit. There are problems all over, from slumping hitters to bullpen blowups.

But this might be the most concerning development of all for San Francisco: uber-ace Madison Bumgarner suddenly looks mortal.

Bumgarner took the loss Tuesday to the Dodgers, surrendering nine hits and five earned runs in five innings in a 9-5 defeat.

It’s one game, sure. And Bumgarner’s overall stats remain exemplary, as we’ll delve into shortly.

But August, overall, has not been kind to the Giants lefty. In 30 innings this month, Bumgarner has yielded 30 hits and 18 runs—14 of them earned.

He mixed in a couple of strong outings Aug. 7 and 13 against the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles. But he was tagged for 10 hits and eight runs Aug. 2 against the Philadelphia Phillies. And on Aug. 18, the New York Mets hung four runs on him in five innings.

“He wasn’t Bum-like,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after Tuesday’s dud, per MLB.com’s Chris Haft. “He wasn’t quite himself. That was pretty evident.”

Here’s the question now: Is this an anomaly or the start of a disturbing trend?

Again, Bumgarner’s overall numbers are great. He ranks second among qualified pitchers in ERA (2.44) and third in strikeouts (202). He paces the pack with 180.2 innings pitched.

That last number, however, hints at one explanation for his recent struggles: fatigue. The other “F” word.

Bumgarner is the definition of a workhorse. He’s eclipsed 200 innings every season since 2011. He’s logged another 88.1 postseason frames since 2010, including a historic run of dominance in 2014.

Add it up and Bumgarner has carried a much heavier load than most 27-year-old pitchers. He’s absorbed it like an invincible, tree-chopping demigod so far.

Is it possible he’s finally tuckered out?

McCovey Chronicles’ Grant Brisbee floated the possibility Tuesday:

The curve was sharp, but the slutter [slider/cutter] was never buried on the hands of the right-handers. He couldn’t do anything but chuck it down the middle against left-handers.

He looked tired, in other words. No idea if he is, at least to a greater degree than most starting pitchers in August, but he looked it.

Because of the small sample, the eyeball test is all we have. Bumgarner’s average fastball velocity has dropped from 92.0 in 2015 to 90.6 this year. Again, though, he’s putting together one of his best campaigns even with the diminished zip. Despite the August speed bump, he’s squarely in the National League Cy Young conversation.

More than anything, Bumgarner has struggled against the Dodgers, who have tagged him for 10 runs in 19 innings over three starts this season.

As Fox Sports’ Chris Bahr noted, “Dating back to last September, Bumgarner is 0-4 in his past five starts against L.A., allowing seven homers and 36 hits in 28.2 innings.”

Do the boys in blue have his number?

“If that continues, maybe there is something,” Bochy said of L.A.’s MadBum ownage, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The same could be said for Bumgarner’s troubles overall. Give it another start or two. If he keeps coughing it up, let the handwringing commence.

Johnny Cueto has thrown like a co-ace in his first year with the Giants. Jeff Samardzija and trade acquisition Matt Moore also have the talent to be front-line starters, though the results have been up and down.

The offense—despite some haplessness, particularly with runners in scoring position—ranks fourth in the NL in batting average (.260) and third in on-base percentage (.333).

Make no mistake, though: San Francisco’s fortunes rest on Bumgarner’s shoulders. He authored the club’s last even-year run in 2014, single-handedly at times.

If that’s going to happen again, he needs to prove his uneven August is more a fluke and less a fatigue-induced harbinger.

In other words, he needs to be Bum-like.

All statistics current as of Aug. 24 and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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Fact: San Francisco Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner gave up five earned runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday, his highest total of the 2016 season.

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: B/R Insights

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Outfielder Andre Ethier hasn’t played a regular-season game in 2016, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are hoping he will be able to contribute before the year is over.

Continue for updates.

Ethier Likely to Be Activated in September

Tuesday, Aug. 23

Although the exact plan hasn’t been announced, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained the idea to have Ethier rehab and then return to the team at some point in September, according to Eric Stephen of True Blue LA.

The 34-year-old outfielder broke a bone in his right leg during a spring training game and was placed on the disabled list before the start of the season. The injury apparently took longer to heal than anticipated, and Ethier remained inactive through August.

According to Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times, the veteran finally started to face live pitching. But the manager “estimated he is running at 75 percent.”

“He’s getting closer,” Roberts said Sunday, per McCullough. “But to say when he’s going to go out on a rehab [assignment], I’m not sure.”

The Dodgers hope Ethier will be able to return to action as soon as possible. They are locked in a tight battle with the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West and can use any help they can find. They can especially use help in the outfield after Yasiel Puig’s regression this season.

Ethier is coming off a solid 2015 season in which he hit .294 with a .366 on-base percentage to go with 14 home runs in 142 games. He is a consistent hitter in the lineup and has the versatility to play all three outfield positions if needed.

Even if he comes back at less than 100 percent, any contribution would be helpful for the remainder of the regular season and possibly the postseason.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter.

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Even with Adrian Gonzalez‘s awesomeness meter at less than 100 percent for most of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t had much trouble hitting in 2016.

Just imagine what they can do now that his meter is far past 100 percent.

There was a hint of what it could be like Monday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. The Dodgers opened a proverbial can of whoop-ass on the Cincinnati Reds, beating them 18-9 to split a four-game series. Gonzalez was responsible for eight of those runs, seven of which came on a trio of home runs.

Here, gaze upon said dingers with glee:

This is the second time Gonzalez, 34, has clubbed three homers in a game. The other time he did it was April 8, 2015, which seemed to signal his seemingly long-lost power was ready for a comeback. Sure enough, he hit 28 homers last year—the most since he clubbed 31 in 2010.

It’s a similar story this time around. The home runs Gonzalez hit were only his 13th, 14th and 15th of 2016, but they upped his total in August to six. That’s twice as many as the veteran first baseman hit in any other month this year.

Now, you could point out that while one of Gonzalez’s dingers was a legit moonshot, the others were pop flies that may not have been home runs in other parks. If you do that, you’re either a nitpicker…or Adrian Gonzalez himself.

“It’s tiny; the ball flies,” Gonzalez said of the Reds’ digs after the game, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “Right field’s really short. Left field plays short.

“I hit two fly balls for home runs today. It could easily have been a 1-for-6 game with five outs. It ends up being a pretty good day.”

Still, we’re not about to let Mr. Modesty bust a perfectly good narrative. Especially since this one’s, well, perfectly good.

This season hasn’t been Gonzalez’s best, but it has been a tale of two stretches in which the second is better than the first. That’s an easy thing to pull off if you start from a low enough place—such as the one Gonzalez occupied earlier this year.

Through May 16, he was batting .282 with a .408 slugging percentage—well short of his .493 career mark. Over half his batted balls were going on the ground, and he was also pulling the ball just 31.2 percent of the time.

It turned out Gonzalez was still battling a bad back that had plagued him down the stretch in 2015. That prompted Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts to give Gonzalez a couple of days off, during which he received treatment.

Not counting Monday, Gonzalez had hit .304 with a .451 slugging percentage since his return. In this span, he’s put only 44.8 percent of his batted balls on the ground and pulled the ball 40.8 percent of the time.

By getting more balls airborne and using his pull side more frequently, Gonzalez has been using two of three recommended ingredients for power hitting. The other? Hard contact, which leads us to the monthly progression of his hard-hit rate:

• April: 30.0%
• May: 31.9%
• June: 32.9%
• July: 27.4%
• August: 43.1%

Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs highlighted how Gonzalez’s hard-hit rate hasn’t experienced a peak like this since about two-thirds of the way through 2015. And since he was already doing everything else he needed to do to hit for power, finding this upturn was probably inevitable.

Gonzalez was hitting .368 with a 1.014 OPS in August even before he went off for three jacks. If this is at all indicative of what he can be for the Dodgers down the stretch, Roberts has every right to feel the way he does about his lineup.

“Very excited for our offense,” he said after Monday’s game, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers offense has been the best in the National League since the All-Star break, and not just because Gonzalez has gotten hot. Also heating up any room they walk into are young studs Corey Seager (22) and Joc Pederson (24) and ol’ standbys Justin Turner, Yasmani Grandal and Howie Kendrick. Chase Utley hasn’t been consistent since the break, but he’s been powerful, with six home runs.

The timing couldn’t be better. Los Angeles had been getting away with makeshift starting pitching all season, but not anymore. After Scott Kazmir’s latest flop Monday, Dodgers starters have a 6.67 ERA in August.

Help is on the way. Trade-deadline acquisition Rich Hill, he of the 2.25 ERA, is slated to make his Dodgers debut Wednesday. Clayton Kershaw, ace pitcher extraordinaire, could return in September.

But as we talked about over the weekend, there’s a nonzero chance Hill and Kershaw are rusty when they come back. Whatever regular-season innings they log could be just as much about getting back into form as they are about shutting down opposing lineups.

As such, the Dodgers’ need for offense will remain intact. It can only help that vintage Gonzalez has returned. He’s in a lineup that’s facing a tall order, but the unit looms that much larger now that he’s swinging a hot stick.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers (69-55) maintained their spot atop the National League West division standings Monday with an 18-9 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds.

On Tuesday, the Dodgers will open a key three-game home series with the San Francisco Giants (68-56) and go for their third straight win, as the division lead will be on the line and both teams are listed at -110 (bet $110 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

The Giants will be going for their third consecutive victory in the series after winning the last two games between the teams at home in the middle of June. They are 6-4 in 10 meetings so far this season and will be looking to snap a two-game skid overall with ace Madison Bumgarner (12-7, 2.25 ERA) on the mound.

Bumgarner has won two in a row following a stretch in which he went five starts without a win, going 0-3 with four of them coming on the road. He is 5-4 away from home with a 2.85 ERA, more than a run higher than his ERA at AT&T Park this year, and 0-1 in two outings versus Los Angeles with a 4.09 ERA.

The Dodgers will counter with Kenta Maeda (12-7, 3.29) and have won in each of the past five games he has started. Maeda has earned victories in four of them, allowing two runs four times and walking just three batters while striking out 26 in 28.2 innings.

Maeda has a losing record at home, though, at 4-5 despite a solid 3.33 ERA but beat San Francisco on April 17, giving up one run and four hits in seven innings of a 3-1 win.

Those bettors looking for a totals play in the series opener might want to look at the under, which has cashed in four of the previous five meetings along with eight of 12, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.

There have been five runs or less scored in three of the last four games, including a 3-1 victory for Los Angeles in the most recent one at Chavez Ravine on April 17. The under is also 4-1 in the past five meetings played at Dodger Stadium dating back to last year.

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