Los Angeles Dodgers pitching probables for their weekend series against the San Francisco Giants are effectively set, with Emmet Sheehan making his MLB debut on Friday being followed by Bobby Miller and Tony Gonsolin.
Gonsolin was the first domino to fall as he was penciled in for the series finale after pitching well against the Chicago White Sox. Gonsolin had some recent trouble recovering between starts, but he and the Dodgers were convinced that won’t be an issue after throwing six scoreless innings.
Gonsolin’s start on Sunday will be his fourth this season on regular rest.
The next decision for the Dodgers to make was with Miller, who threw a career-high 104 pitches over six scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 10.
“It was just more the thought of if we can give him an extra day, there’s probably no downside to it,” manager Dave Roberts explained of pushing Miller back to start Saturday.
“That was kind of the genesis behind that. Now it takes us to Friday, and we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do. We don’t have a starter yet, I think a bullpen day is safe to say right now. Unless we decide otherwise.”
Miller is 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA and 0.83 WHIP through four career starts. He’s faced the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees and Phillies, and now gets to pitch against the Dodgers’ longtime rival.
“He’s been great,” Roberts said. “It’s been great to be able to have a guy come in and not only log innings but be really good. It’s been fun to watch him ascent really quickly.”
Bobby Miller joined rare group of pitchers
Miller became just the second Dodgers pitcher since at least 1901 to complete a minimum of five innings and allow one run or fewer in each of his first four starts. Kenta Maeda previously accomplished the feat while with the Dodgers in 2016.
Miller also is the ninth pitcher in MLB history since 1901 to allow a combined two runs or fewer through his first four starts, with the only other Dodgers to achieve that being Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Maeda (2016).
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