NFL
By: George Lopez
As the Los Angeles Dodgers continue their current road trip, the team is faced with making difficult roster decisions in the coming days. Julio Urias is expected to be activated from the injured list in the next few days and that will leave the Dodgers with 6 starters on the active roster. The Dodgers have not indicated any intentions of going with a 6 man rotation. This leaves manager Dave Roberts with a difficult decision on who is removed from the rotation. When Urias returns, the Dodgers will have Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Michael Grove, Bobby Miller, and Noah Syndergaard on the roster. Urias, Kershaw, and Gonsolin’s spot in the rotation is secured. That leaves Grove, Miller, and Syndergaard fighting for the final 2 spots in the rotation.
Since his call-up, Bobby Miller has been impressive in his 3 starts, posting a record of 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA. Miller has Dodger fans excited about the future of the rotation. The Dodgers may want to limit his workload, given he was just called up plus the Dodgers do have options with Miller to send him back down to the minors.
In 5 starts, Michael Grove has posted a record of 0-2 with an 8.14 ERA. Grove, for the most part, has not looked sharp in his starts with the Dodgers this season. There is a strong possibility the Dodgers send Grove back to the minors to work on his mechanics as well as work on locating his pitches.
Dodger fans have become weary of the Noah Syndergaard experiment. In 10 starts, Syndergaard is 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA. In his last 3 starts, Syndergaard has lasted a combined 14 innings while giving up 17 runs. When he was signed as a free agent this past off-season, Dodger fans were excited at the possibility pitching coach Mark Prior would be able to do the same thing he did with Tyler Anderson last season. It hasn’t materialized this season. Recently, Syndergaard has made comments about going into games with subpar pitches. His confidence has definitely been shaken as he continues to struggle. In his most recent start, Syndergaard blew a 6-2 lead in 3 innings of work. With the emergence of Bobby Miller and Julio Urias returning possibly this weekend, it was believed that Syndergaard would be fighting for his job in his start in Cincinnati. Today, the Dodgers announced that Syndergaard was placed on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his right index finger. This gives the Dodgers some time to make a decision on who will be removed from the rotation.
Dustin May, out with an injury, is expected back after the All-Star break. Walker Buehler, out since last season recovering from Tommy John surgery has already begun throwing off the mound and has stated he expects to be back in September to help with the playoff push. This will give the Dodgers additional pitchers who are expected to be in the starting rotation. It is possible when both May and Buehler return, they could be placed in the bullpen to help what has been a struggling group of relief pitchers this season.
The Dodgers do have some tough decisions to make in the coming days as to who will be in the starting rotation. The Dodgers may want to limit the number of appearances by both Miller and Grove so they don’t wear them down. Based on how he has performed this season, look for the Dodgers to move on from Syndergaard and release him. The Dodgers do have some promising young arms. Look for Miller to remain with the Dodgers in the rotation while being placed on a pitch/inning limit in order to keep him fresh for the September/October playoff push.
