Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — It was all set up for the Dodgers. It seemed like the Dodgers’ front office (and Dave Roberts) had managed the depleted Dodgers rotation perfectly so that when the big three-game series with the San Francisco Giants came up on the weekend, they would have Julio Urias. Walker Buehler, and Max Scherzer pitching the games in Oracle Park. You would have to feel pretty good about the Dodgers’ chances to win the series with that lineup. All they had to do was pitch Julio Urias on Sunday against the Rockies, and it would fall perfectly, given the off-day on Thursday.
Urias pushed back a day
Instead, Friedman, Roberts, et al decided to give Urias an extra day of rest and started Mitch White in the game on Sunday. And the inexperienced White got lit up, throwing to a blazing-hot CJ Cron with two outs and first base open. A more experienced pitcher in that situation would probably have given Cron nothing to hit and taken his chance with the light-hitting Rio Ruiz,who was on deck. Instead, Cron hit a three-run homer and the Dodgers never recovered, losing the game to the Rockies 5-0.
Roberts’ explanation
“Making sure you take care of the guys, Julio and Walker, namely, as far as giving them an extra day to appreciate and understand what they have in store for them the rest of the season [is important],” Roberts said. “There’s still plenty of games where we have to take care of our business, and we’ll have two of those guys against the Giants. The thought is to make sure our guys are performing optimally and with rest. We’ll bet on that.”
Roberts insists he’s playing the “long game” with Urias, paying attention to his usage so that he has plenty in the tank for the playoffs. Okay, that is a nice sentiment, but couldn’t we do that after this week?
Scherzer unavailable against Giants
Now, Urias will be plenty rested when he pitches on Monday night against the Braves, but because of the move, both Walker Buehler and Max Scherzer will be bumped back a day. This means that Scherzer will be the starter on Wednesday, and as such will be unavailable on Sunday against San Francisco. The whole thing doesn’t make any sense.
Unless Roberts knows that he is getting Clayton Kershaw back in the rotation this weekend, but even then, how many innings could you realistically expect out of a guy who’s been on the shelf for two months?
Jansen probably out on Monday
Add to that, Roberts inexplicable insertion of Kenley Jansen into a game on Sunday in which the Dodgers were trailing by five runs, and you have a lot of head scratching going on in Dodgerland. Now, after having pitched in back-to-back games, Jansen will likely be unavailable to close Monday’s game with the Braves. For what? To pitch an inning in a game that looked already lost? I don’t get it.
Maybe the Dodgers’ brain trust is playing three-dimensional chess here, but on the surface, it looks as though they are just making odd decisions. Here’s hoping that they don’t come back to haunt the Dodgers by the end of the season.
