Dodger’s Pitching Staff is Exhausted, Need Rest Before October

They’re more than exhausted, they are gassed. You could say they are Exxon mobile gassed. I saw a stat online last night that stated that the Dodgers have not had a starting pitcher pitch into the sixth inning since August 27 at San Diego. That’s a span of nine games. That annoying little streak continued on Friday night when Clayton Kershaw couldn’t make it past the fifth inning in the Dodger’s 5-4 loss to the Giants at Dodger Stadium.

The baseball season is long and exhausting. Pitchers can and do get tired towards the end of the season. This is very common. When it happens, you have to recognize it right away and make sure you make some adjustments to the staff in order to get some of the guys rest before the playoffs. Right now the Dodger’s entire pitching staff is not just running on fumes, but completely gassed. They’re getting torched on most nights and if it weren’t for the great hitting the Dodgers would have lost a lot more than they won.

Starters Hyun-jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw, and Walker Buehler are all totally exhausted. Their tanks are on empty. Buehler is young and can bounce back quickly, but Kershaw and Ryu are older and can’t recover as quickly as the younger pitchers. Kershaw and Ryu both need some rest if they are going to be anywhere effective come October.

Embed from Getty Images

Kershaw has already pitched 159 innings, and has not pitched more than 175 since he tossed 232.2 innings of work in 2015. Ryu has logged 161.2 innings which is the most he’s pitched since his debut season with the Dodgers back in 2014. Buehler has thrown 159.1 innings which is his career high as well. All three of them have not fared well over the last several weeks.

The Dodgers are finally going to try and get these guys some rest. Dave Roberts spoke recently and said that the club expects Ryu to have his next turn in the rotation skipped, and that all the rest of the starters would get an extra day of rest. The Dodgers have a 17 game lead over Arizona in the NL West. Their magic number is just 4 to clinch their seventh consecutive NL West title. They are going to win the division and the rest of the games are meaningless other than playing for home field advantage. Getting their top three starters some rest is much more important than playing for home field.

Not that I don’t consider home field important. It certainly is for a Dodger’s club that plays much better at home than on the road. However getting the starters right for the postseason has to take center stage right now. If the starters had not been tired over the last several weeks than maybe this wouldn’t be happening.

Just get the pitching staff sorted out. The Dodgers have a little over a month to get this done.

Scott Andes

Scott Andes


More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

49 thoughts on “Dodger’s Pitching Staff is Exhausted, Need Rest Before October

  1. Dodger staff is out of gas, Scott. Not even the young Gonsolin could earn a victory vs. the lowly Gnats. Bochy has been giving the Dodgers every opportunity to clinch, but like yesterday, the Dodgers tripped over their own feet again. Magic number remains at 4.

    The Pitching staff actually did well, including Gonsolin. The ugly first inning where Goose had to throw 30 pitches, capped by a misplayed pop-up landing in between Joc and Lux. Dodgers and Gonsolin were lucky to escape the 1st inning giving up only one run to the Gnats. Kelly and Jansen had to work themselves out of jams, so they escaped unscathed, but definitely nothing to get excited about.

    Dodger offense sputtered again, unable to score a single run against a 5+ ERA Beede. Joc, 1-3, yanked again for a .156 pinch hitter. I just don’t get it. Offense was more “no offense”….Two GIDP’s, 0-5 RISP, 7 LOB, just 4 singles, 7 KO’s, no runs…. pitiful.

      1. Yep, and those shades of gray skies are even here in So. Oregon. That last sentence in your post above the “Blue Skies’ one says it all about this offense, and we know pretty much why these things are happening….

  2. Bruce Bochy must be getting soft in his last year of management. He is throwing another right hander on the bump…. another 5+ ERA pitcher to open the Door for the Dodgers piss poor offense.

    Bochy is definitely not losing any sleep in Los Angeles. He is probably getting a good laugh, watching the division leading Dodgers struggle to clinch the weak Western Division.

    Dodger fans seem to be oblivious to what is happening on the field. They are having a ball, literally, with the beach balls being slapped around, and ricocheting off of spectator’s heads, building squadrons of paper airplanes to try and swarm the playing field, and Dodger fans continue to start Waves at the most inopportune time, like when the Gnats are at bat and ready to rally and pounce on the Dodger pitchers…. I think the Dodger fans do not understand the concept of generating a Wave to spark your offense, and shake up the opposing pitcher. The Wave is somewhat old and obsolete. Maybe Dodger fans should just end the Wave, altogether.

    Oh well, as long as they are enjoying themselves, as their Dodgers sink slowly in the West.

    I am not looking forward to the champagne celebration when they clinch the West. I think they should hold off on any celebrations, until they win a World Series.

    1. I agree here Bluefan, there should be no champagne celebrations AT ALL for the Division title, or for winning the 1st round and getting to the NLCS. If they win another NL pennant, well maybe but then again maybe not until there is a WS win. But honestly from what I have seen from this team in the past few weeks, We will be watching the PS at home after the 1st round and the Dodgers will be watching at home as well.

  3. I and some others have been seeing this exhaustion for our starters for a while now. They need the rest the next 3 weeks more than we need their starts. We will find out if the management really has a clue about winning in the post season by how they treat our starters from here on out. I don’t mean letting a starter skip a start, I mean let them skip all starts for a minimum of 3 weeks. Anything short of that speaks a whole lot about their skills as managers, coaches and front office personnel.

    1. If they can manage to clinch the West, and a playoff spot, then they “might” have an opportunity to give their starters some rest. But, what is just as important to winning the West, is home field advantage throughout the playoffs and WS. They will need it vs. every team in October, especially the AL representative in the WS. Right now, they are behind the Yanks and Astros, and are close to losing Home Field to Braves and Twins. So, it is highly unlikely they will have a window to adequately rest their starters.

      Funny how all those blown games (seven blown saves, and three losses by Jansen alone) really end up biting them in the ass, at season’s end. That is why I do not buy that lame excuse, ”That’s OK, it is only one loss”. Those “one losses” added up, didn’t they?

  4. You know what? After watching these Tennis players singlehandedly battle for 5 hours, every other day, then I see these baseball players running out of gas. As far as I am concerned, baseball players ought to stop cryin’ & makin’ excuses, and play baseball. Earn their money. Sheeez!

    …. I’m just sayin’

  5. Hey our bullpen shut out the mighty giants. The Giants have been putting up record offensive numbers and are an absolute juggernaut at the plate and, what? or wait, never mind, I was thinking of the wrong team

  6. Maeda had a great day, coming out of the pen. Kenta is a victim of his own doing. Year after year, he has been a workhorse. Not a totally dominating pitcher, but a warrior who is able to stay healthy. His “Samurai” attitude shows with his versatility to start, as well as relieve successfully. He wants to remain a starter, and his contract is based on starting, but because he has the ability to be effective out of the pen, he remains the odd man out. Just like when you work in an office, you wonder why your desk has the largest workload. Well, when you are good at what you do, the boss depends on you to carry the load. He knows if he piles the work on someone else, the job will not get done, or the worker will do a poor job. So, Maeda gets the shaft…. he does what ever it takes for the team, not his own selfish agenda. Ryu refuses to go to the pen….Would Kershaw accept a bullpen assignment? I think not.

    Now, Urias struggled badly. Will he start, or be in the pen? I don’t even know if he knows. Makes me wonder if the Dodgers handled his career advancement properly? It must be frustrating to be a pitcher who knows he has talent, yet management chose to handle him with kid gloves. His sporadic workload in the minors, and spot appearances in the Majors, “may” have led, or contributed to, him injuring himself. Also “may” have contributed to his domestic violence issues, due to his frustrations. I kind of parallel Urias’ career with Pederson’s. Dodgers seemed to have given these two guys some “self doubt”, imposing limitations and restrictions on them. They rarely get a chance to fully develop and beat their demons, and when the rare opportunity comes up, they try too hard, and fail.

    Bullpen did do a commendable job last night against the lowly Gnats, but they are just too unpredictable to be reliable in the playoffs.

        1. Who? Me or Bluto?

          Actually, I think Bluto and I “get morbid entertainment from pointing and laughing” at each other!🤣😂🤣

  7. Something just began stanking in here again. Yuck that’s an awful presence that just invaded. It has a Pedro Files essence to it.

  8. pitchers are exhausted? LOL they “play” every 5 days! throw 6 innings! if any part of their body is sore theyre on the disabled list!

    Scott, you need to follow European football where players and teams are playing for 3 different cups every
    Now thats a grind.

    When Kershaw was young, he still choked in the post season.
    Too young, too old, excuses excuses….

    1. Just look at the stats, the pitchers are worn out, they are now floundering in the late stages of the season. The players are so coddled and limited in their training and in pitches allowed to be made, they have been created to do a very weak workload. Baba, there are the be’s and oughta-be’s, you are stuck on the oughta-be’s, those of us commenting on the worn down pitchers are dealing with the be’s.

  9. Thanks to the Mets, the Dodgers are “moonwalking” quietly to the Western Division Championship. Tonight they face Ex-Gnat Tyler Blach, who blanked them for 5 innings on opening day. Can the Dodgers take that last step forward on their own, or must the rely on the Mets’ help, so they can slip quietly into the playoffs? Looks like the dreaded “Lefty Line-Up” will be put to the test against the less-than “Cheeri-O’s” who are one of the worst teams in MLB.

    So, maybe they clinch today…. It really depends who shows up. Like the sands in an hour glass, so is the fate of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

  10. Come on, that “facing the lefty lineup” always kicks ass! Good thing they stick to it faithfully with those kick ass results it fetches them. They obviously are not capable of seeing it for what it is. How can a group of guys that place so value on statistic after statistic, apparently throw out all that information gathered regarding the wholesale exchange of batters each time we face a lefty? It truly is amazing that they keep drinking from that well.

    Dammit, I may just have to read a few of Brutus upcoming posts for entertainment value, not for baseball insight. Come on Brutus, we need your “unique” flava (oh God I’m going to regret posting that).

  11. What is amazing to me is these guys get paid $500K to $1M “plus” and they apparently cannot hit a left handed pitcher?

    OR…. cannot throw more than 70 pitches and/or 5 innings “EVERY 5 DAYS” before running out of gas?


    1. Good day Bluefan! Lol, but to be honest I am not sure any celebrating should be done at all for another Division title. I realize it shows sustained success in the regular season but who on here would not trade some of those division titles for a WS Championship?

  12. I know Paul, I agree, no celebration until they hoist the WS Trophy and Pennant.

    Even worse, would be to celebrate if the lose, and the Mets win today.

    1. OH, I didn’t think about that scenario, which means that after some recent lackluster play they would ‘back’ into the Division title. But honestly Dodgers need to win their own game but it may not be that easy with a LHP (Blach) who has been tough on them in the past, wss.

  13. Clinching another Division title is a much greater achievement than winning a WS, hell just going to the WS 3 years in row is a much greater accomplishment than winning a WS, doesn’t everyone know that, sheez. In fact, winning a WS would just taint those other great acheivements, as you know.

    (NOT, I was channeling Brutus’ thoughts on the matter )

      1. You are too easy, lol.

        I find that it is best to explain absurdity with an absurd response. It has a way of casting a shining light on stupidity. So never any Blue Dodger Googles on this True Blue Fan.

  14. Lefty lineup. Pederson DH hit double vs. a lefty! The world is coming to an end!

    Cory is not going to “Moonwalk” into the playoffs, if he has anything to do with it!😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

  15. I really hope that the players mentality is not to celebrate tonight. They really need to have the “we ain’t done nothing yet” (sorry Brutus, but that’s how sports really work). The reality is, they have not done anything yet, there is plenty of unfinished business.

    1. Plenty of unfinished business…. BTW, O’s bring in a lefty reliever, so naturally, DR pulls Joc (2-3 with a double, 2 hits vs a lefty) and throws the R/H’d Gyorko (.190) out there… two swings, and out #3🤷‍♂️Go figure….🙄

  16. Right on cue, Ferris goes 7 shut out innings, bullpen comes in the 8th and gives up HR to first batter faced, then walks the next batter. Some things just never change. I wonder where the Dodgers will be going on vacation in the second week of October.

  17. Buehler dominating the O’s… 7 innings, 91 pitches, 11 KO’s, no runs, 2 hit. Why not yank him ,and see if the bullpen can secure the shutout? NOT!

    Glad I do not have Sportsnet LA, so I do not have to witness the celebration.

    1. they are pretty subdued actually, that’s a good thing. Okay, now can they stay and some get healthy for the post season. That damn bullpen, though…

      1. Glad to hear that! Maybe after seeing that bullpen meltdown, they actually saw the real picture.

        Snakes lost anyway!…. NYY lost to DET 12-11!….. HOU losing to OAK, 20-3!

      2. Congrats to the Dodgers for winning their 7th straight divisional title but that is it. No extra atta boys. Win the thing that counts, A WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP! No credit for Beavis and Butthead. Win what counts. Can they do it? We shall see but I am not confident for sure. Where is Michael? Probably sucking up to the Kool Aid crowd and telling them how great everything they do is. Oh well, never thought that would happen but it did.

        1. Yes. People have to remain steadfast in opinions and perspective

          No value in changing or looking at things differently.

          Poor post package!


          1. Bluto
            Sorry you don’t like my post but I understand. You care more about the minors than winning a championship. You can find no wrong with the FO or Manager. You remind of the 60s, only care is whether or not the sun comes up. That is nice but not life. The team will have to win to build any credibility. Also, be a person of your word. If you are going to change it all the time then you have no character.

          2. Please don’t put words or value systems into my mouth or onto me.

            There’s a massive delta between coming around after a few years to appreciate what the Dodgers have done and changing, in your words, “all the time.”

            If you can’t see what’s wrong with all of the above, then perhaps you have larger issues with people than what I’m addressing.

Leave a Reply


Optionally add an image (JPEG only)