The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, including a doubleheader on Saturday and an appearance on Sunday Night Baseball. The Dodgers out scored the Cubs 20-3 with all three starters doing a great job. Dodgers starters have now allowed two earned runs or fewer over the last fifteen games.
The Dodgers are now in sole possession of first place in the very competitive NL West, with a record of 19-7, and a 1.5 game lead over the second place San Diego Padres. They are on pace for 118 wins, after winning their last six games.
Before Sunday’s game, manager Dave Roberts gave an update on some members of the pitching staff.
Reliever Blake Treinen will not return to the Dodgers bullpen until at least the All-Star game. Treinen has been on the Injured List since April 14th with shoulder inflammation.
The hard throwing righty had an MRI right after his injury, which didn’t show any structural damage. He was scheduled to see a doctor on Monday, but has decided to try to treat his shoulder with rest and rehabilitation.
“I just think he feels he’s just gonna rehab it and he doesn’t need any other opinions,” Roberts said. “It’s shoulder inflammation. And so now we’ve decided that we’re gonna rest it, strengthen it and get him back here.”
“His value for us is during the stretch run, whatever that means,” Roberts continued. “So we’re going to take our time with him and do everything we can to make sure he’s ready for the second half of the season.”
Left handed reliever Victor Gonzalez is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to remove debridement. Gonzalez is expected to return at some point this season, but that timetable won’t be known until after the procedure. Victor looked great in Spring Training, but started feeling elbow discomfort and started the season on the IL.
Andrew Heaney told reporters that he has turned a corner on his shoulder pain, and will start a throwing program on Monday. His progression from playing catch will be dependent on how he feels after each step forward.
Also before Sunday’s game, Justin Bruihl was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. With the Dodgers playing 28 games in the next 28 days, including a doubleheader, they may have some bullpen games and are looking to keep longer relievers. Bruihl is the odd man out in a bullpen full of men they don’t necessarily want to option.
They now will move on to face the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three game set before heading back home to L.A. Roberts mentioned Ryan Pepiot, Robbie Erlin, and Andre Jackson among the possible spots starters for the Pirates series. Erlin’s contract was selected by the Dodgers on Saturday ahead of the doubleheader and stays with the team for now with the optioning of Bruihl.
Erlin may not be with the team long after a poor outing tonight. Will be good to see Pepiot get a start on Wednesday. Hopefully Taylor’s bruised knee isn’t too bad, though maybe he needs a break with the rate he has been striking out.
Yep. Needs to sit a couple of days and think about all those strike outs. 38 SO in 86 AB. 44%. And only 10 walks.
We may see Pillar if CT3 will be down for more than a day or two.
Whenever a guy is “day to day” they usually don’t put him on the IL for about a week, thereby losing a player, and then decide to do it. I hope this time they just give him the time on the IL since he’s been striking out even more than usual. Maybe a little time off would be good for him.
In the meanwhile, Pillar certainly deserves a shot. Let’s call him up while he’s hot. The other option, of course, would be ZMac who can also play the infield. I guess we’ll see soon enough but if they do call someone up, I would guess it would be the righty hitter Pillar.
Yep, this is a good time to bring up Pillar. That’s why he’s at OKC and he’s OPS’n over 1.000 so he’s done what he’s supposed to do there.
They are averaging less than 2 runs a game for Urias, The worst for any starter in the league. Last year it was close to 5.
Julio deserved a better fate last night. He wasn’t sharp, but he was grinding it out and kept us in the game.