According to a report Tuesday evening from Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers will activate veteran Brandon McCarthy from the disabled list to start the middle game of the weekend series against the Royals on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
McCarthy was placed on the 10-day disabled list on June 26 with the primary reason being indicated as right knee tendinitis. However, many close to the club believe that severe control issues were the main reasons why the 33-year-old righty was ultimately placed on the shelf.
He made his 13th start of the season on June 25 against the Rockies, allowing five runs on four hits in only three full innings of work, as a complete lack of command caused his early departure. He has gone 6-3 with a 3.25 ERA over an even 72 innings pitched this season, while holding batters to a .229 average.
McCarthy threw a sim game on Monday afternoon at Rancho Cucamonga and had no issues, which eventually cleared the way for him slotting into the rotation this weekend.
On Tuesday afternoon, right-hander Ross Stripling was added to the 25-man roster when lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu was sent to the disabled list with a left foot contusion, an injury resulting from him being hit by a hard comebacker against the Angels last Wednesday. Despite the pain, Ryu pitched into the sixth inning of the contest, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision.
Stripling begins his third stint with the big league squad, having gone 0-3 with one save and a 4.03 ERA in 38 full innings over 22 major league relief appearances this season. The addition of Strip boosted the number of weapons in the Dodger bullpen to a whopping nine fresh arms.
As far as how the rotation lines up through the beginning of the All-Star break, lefty Alex Wood will take the hill on Wednesday evening in the middle game against the Diamondbacks, with veteran southpaw Rich Hill scheduled to throw in the finale on Thursday night. Righty Kenta Maeda will start the opener against the Royals on Friday, followed by McCarthy on Saturday and Clayton Kershaw in the first-half finale on Sunday.
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Think Blue Planning Committee 