Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Spring Training: Mattingly Not Concerned With Pitchers’ Stats

Vincent Samperio-Dodgers Nation
Vincent Samperio-Dodgers Nation

After minor injuries forced the Los Angeles Dodgers to briefly rely on other starters for their Cactus League games, they’ve hit the point in Spring Training where their starting rotation mirrors what’s expected come the regular season.

Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu both made their debuts this week, Brandon McCarthy was on the mound for a second time Friday, and Brett Anderson is scheduled for his second start of the spring on Saturday. While the Dodgers have their rotation in place, it’s been a bag of mixed results.



However, that isn’t something manager Don Mattingly is concerned with and he also added he was content with McCarthy’s three innings on Friday, according to Eric Stephen of True Blue LA:

I thought he was fine. It was moving on,” manager Don Mattingly said. “With our starters I’m not really concerned about the results. It’s more about getting ready for the season.”

McCarthy allowed one run on three hits Friday against the Cincinnati Reds. He threw 41 pitches and had seven of his nine outs come by way of ground ball. Over his two starts, the right-hander has gone a combined five innings and allowed two runs on five hits.

Greinke’s return to the mound didn’t coincide with the standard results that have come to be expected of him. However, it wasn’t much of a surprise given it was his first outing and Greinke said he was working on a new grip for his slider.

If there’s a perfect example for Mattingly to point to as reason for him not being overly concerned with Spring Training results, it’s Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers’ ace has pitched well this spring, but notoriously struggles during this time of the year.

For the Dodgers rotation, getting healthy and building the arm strength to pitch six-plus innings is much more important than looking at a box score and seeing two or three runs were allowed in a loss.

[divide]

Brandon McCarthy Discusses First Spring Training Start


Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

4 Comments

  1. It is the 2nd week of training. I do not expect them to air it out for at least 10 days, then they will get serious..

    1. Bear I am so glad I was able to get TW Cable. I have enjoyed seeing the games but also the shows like Talking Blue and interview shows like “Connected with”. Can you get any of that in CO as you subscribe to MLB? Also heard one of the interview shows and one of the guys said that the Reliever Santos has as they say “Filthy stuff”. Curious if Santos makes the cut as he was a closer at one time. With League reported with a sore shoulder it will be interesting to see how this all turns out. I am beginning to think Paco may get shipped back to the Minors. We will see….

      1. I get that kind of stuff on my streaming service. I have the Dodger nation channel, so I get interviews and blurbs. Santos does have filthy stuff, and he might make the roster with both League and Jansen nursing injuries, But he is non roster, which means, they have to DL or release someone on the roster to put him on, and McGowan is on a MLB contract. They sent 3 to the minors today, including Urias, but that was a given. I would say, off hand if he is healthy the one non roster guy most likely to stick is Adams. Probably the best stuff in the BP and flat nasty when healthy. Paco is definitely a candidate for Okie City which is fine because he has options left. I am getting the feeling that Huff will be the 2nd lefty in the pen because he is so versatile. He can do long relief if Nicasio cannot cut it.

        1. You are probably right. My thought if League is behind they might DL him for a couple of weeks which would leave room for Santos. I like our options as I agree if Adams is OK he is really nasty for an inning or two. I have not been too much of a Nicasio fan as I think he needs some more seasoing, he is too erratic for my taste. I think Paco is in Okie City and I read some of the stuff on Huff and he can fill in in long relief also. I like the addition of Barnes. Looking at his Minor League record he is a contact hitter and can play the infield and he can actually catch the damn ball unlike Grandal so I think we may see him next year. Looking forward to the moves they make going into the Season and thinking how it impacts next year as 2nd base, SS and third are off contract. Unless Seager regresses I see him as SS. I would imagine they would attempt to sign Kendrick but Sweeney has looked good. The only fear is bringing in too many rookies at once as they usually take 2-3 years to hit consistetly. I think Seager will have a good OBP as he has a good perception of the zone and a short swing. How much they risk depends on how Pederson hits this year. If he is down near the Mendoza Line it would not allow them to bring in a Sweeney that may need some time to adjust. Although the speed he brings would help. I love for a team to take the extra base, hit and run and steal it is why I love to watch Teams Managed by Scioscia. You and I grew up watching Dodger type baseball with Maury Wills stealing a game. Damn I would love it if he was the Dodger Manager as he should have been. Oh well, water under the bridge.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button