While the Los Angeles Dodgers had their starting rotation aligned relatively early into their Cactus League schedule, it has not lasted long into the start of the season.
The team had two off days in the first week, which turned into three when a game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park was postponed due to rain. The only thing that has remained constant so far is Clayton Kershaw has pitched every fifth day so he could remain on his regular routine between starts.
The casualty of that was Kenta Maeda, whose last start was skipped and he made an appearance out of the bullpen against the Giants over the weekend. Maeda is returning to the rotation this weekend though.
And in setting his probables, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts named Kershaw his starter for Sunday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which puts the ace on six days’ rest, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Roberts announced his starting pitchers for the weekend series against Arizona, with Kenta Maeda on Friday, Rich Hill on Saturday and Clayton Kershaw on Sunday.
Kershaw has looked like his usual self so far this season despite not yet recording a win. In three starts he has yielded a 1.89 ERA and 1.11 WHIP while striking out 19 and walking three in 19 innings of work.
Having five scheduled off days in the first month of the season is not ideal, but Roberts is utilizing it to keep all of his starting pitchers fresh. Hyun-Jin Ryu started on Tuesday with eight days of rest, while Alex Wood follows on Wednesday having not pitched in seven days.
Maeda’s outing on Friday comes 13 days after his last start, although he did have the bullpen appearances mixed in. Like Kershaw, Hill will be on six days of rest when he takes the mound against Arizona.
Given the Dodgers lack of starting rotation depth this year compared to previous seasons, keeping their five starters fresh could pay dividends later in the season.
