This Team is Built for the Playoffs

Maybe this is what happens at the trade deadline:

Rotoworld Injury Updates

• Hyun-Jin Ryu (groin) pitched two innings in a simulated game on Wednesday. Next up is a three-inning simulated appearance Saturday in Los Angeles. The left-hander will likely begin a minor league rehab assignment after that.
• Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts said Friday that Julio Urias (shoulder) is a serious candidate to work out of the club’s bullpen down the stretch. Urias excelled in that role as a rookie during the 2016 season and could be a major weapon for Roberts in his quest for a division title in the National League West. He continues to inch closer to a minor league rehab assignment.

Do the Dodgers really need to add a bullpen piece if Ryu and Urias come back healthy? The Dodgers are taking their time with them, but both are progressing nicely.  Ryu was the Dodgers best starter when he went down.  He cannot pitch out of the pen, so someone else will go there… Stripling, Wood, Maeda, thus strengthening the pen.  Julio Urias could be scary good out of the pen,  He’s still only 21, but when he was 19 he was very, very good. The rehab and work he has had to do certainly has helped him mature. I’m excited that Doc thinks he can be a piece in the pen.

In the playoffs, when only 3 or 4 starters are employed, suddenly the Dodgers’ staff looks different.  Starters (in my opinion) are Kershaw (he is looking like an Ace again), Hill, Buehler, Ryu. The relievers are Alexander, Hudson, Floro, Urias, Chicken Strip, Wood, Maeda and Jansen… or whoever else they want among Goddel, Baez, Chargois, Cingrani, Ferguson, Fields, Stewart and Santana. With 4 starters and 5 or 6 pitchers who are capable of going multiple innings, this 2018 Dodger team will not win 104 regular season games, but it just might be built to win ONE MORE in the playoffs!

I started writing this article before I found a similar article by Ken Gurnick at Dodgers.com where he wrote:

The Dodgers will likely pick up a relief arm before Tuesday’s non-waiver Trade Deadline, because that’s what they do at trade deadlines.

But with so many injured pitchers in the process of returning, as well as the current surplus of starting pitchers, manager Dave Roberts said there is less of an urgency for reinforcements than there was a month ago.

Roberts on Friday was especially excited about the possibility of Julio Urias pitching out of the bullpen, as well as Dennis Santana. Urias has been out a year after shoulder surgery but will be in Los Angeles next week to pitch a simulated game. There isn’t time to build him up to start, Roberts said, so Urias will be a reliever if he returns this year. Santana has been sidelined since early June with a rotator cuff strain.

“If there’s a deal to be had, I’m sure our guys will be on it,” Roberts said. “With what we have, to go outside and do something just to do something, it’s got to really make sense because there’s a lot of good arms here that we know and we trust internally.”

The Dodgers opted not to overspend for recently traded relievers Brad Hand, Jeurys Familia or Zach Britton. With the current six-man rotation, Roberts said one starter will be moved to the bullpen. He didn’t say which one, but Ross Stripling, Kenta Maeda and Alex Wood have been successful in that role in the past.

Pedro Baez has already returned to the bullpen, and Roberts said Josh Fields and Tony Cingrani, in that order, aren’t far away from returning from shoulder issues.

Easily the most intriguing bullpen candidate is Urias.

“We don’t know what we’re going to get,” Roberts said of Urias, “but I will say that in the postseason of ’16, and his first taste of the big leagues and what he did — the heartbeat, the stuff — to get him back in a short stint is something we feel comfortable we can bet on. We’re all excited for this.”

Roberts said the reports on Urias in recent weeks have all been favorable. He said Hyun-Jin Ryu, recovering from a serious groin strain, will also throw a simulated game in Los Angeles next week. Ryu is not being considered for the bullpen.

He’s probably right – the Dodgers may very well make a trade, but it likely won’t be Bear Claw or some of the other notables, simply due to the price.

Andy McCullough  also writes about Jurio Urias return at The LA Times.

Other Dodger News

• Roberts says Puig will be back today.  Who do you keep – Forsythe or Verdugo?  My money is on Verdugo. Goodbye Logan – your Run is over!
• Kenley Jansen looked very Jansen-esque last night with his cutter and hitting 95 MPH.  Maybe it was just a mechanical thing…
• Gavin Lux remains on fire (.916 OPS) – Move him up!
• There has been a Yadier Alvarez sighting: 3 IP/2 H/0 R/1 BB/0 K – Would you trade him straight up for Bear Claw?
• Mitch White went 5 and allowed 7 hits with 2 Runs.
• Toles remains hot (2-4/.339) and Liberatore finally pitched.

Photocredit: CBS Sports

Logan’s Run: