We’re just over a week removed from Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes saying the team’s recent injury woes shouldn’t affect their approach at the July 30 trade deadline.
We’re also a day removed from Garrett Crochet firing 5.2 scoreless innings against the Dodgers in a 3-0 Los Angeles win on Monday, June 24.
Things change in a hurry. According to The Athletic, the Dodgers are interested in Crochet after the team announced on June 24 that it was shutting down Clayton Kershaw for a week after he felt soreness in the shoulder he was rehabbing.
With Kershaw out and Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the injured list, starting pitching is becoming a concern for the Dodgers.
“The Dodgers also like Crochet,” Ken Rosenthal, Patrick Mooney and Katie Woo wrote in a June 25 story assessing the trade market for Crochet, whom they say is “a Padres target.”
With the Dodgers 8.5 games up in the NL West heading into play on June 25, they’re already World Series favorites. FanGraphs gives them a 17.5% chance of hoisting their second championship trophy in five seasons, and a move to acquire an ace could put them over the top — especially if the walking wounded return to the rotation.
Garrett Crochet Aces Dodgers ‘Audition’
In addition to his 0 earned runs, Crochet struck out 6 and didn’t walk anyone against one of the most potent offenses in baseball.
Randy Holt from Sporting News wrote that the start could be an audition for the Dodgers.
“Crochet was actually throwing harder than his average to date,” he wrote. “He averaged 97.9 MPH with the four-seam and 92.1 with the cutter. Each was a full MPH above his season average. Spin rates were up on his changeup & slider as well, though he only threw those pitches each a handful of times.”
Holt added that Crochet pitched to a 39% strikeout rate and a 71% ground ball rate. For comparison, Crochet’s season-long numbers show a still-mighty 35% strikeout rate and 45% ground ball rate.
The Dodgers Rotation Injury Woes
The Dodgers decided to shut down Kershaw on Monday, the day before his second scheduled rehab start. Manager Dave Roberts downplayed the setback’s severity in his pregame meeting with the media before the Dodgers played Chicago.
“This is part of the process, as far as anyone that goes through rehab, that goes through surgery, on their way back,” Roberts said, according to Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. “This is what he’s going through right now, the soreness.”
Roberts added that they will shut Kershaw down for a week, which should not impede the build-up he’s already gone through in the rehab process.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers put Buehler on the IL on June 19, just over a month after activating him post-Tommy John surgery. Buehler struggled in limited time and the Dodgers cited inflammation in his right hip as the reason for the IL move. The team has not provided a timetable for his return.
As for Yamamoto, Gomes said it is “way too early” to know how long he will be out with the shoulder strain that landed him on the IL a couple of weeks ago. He added, however, that he expects Yamamoto to be back this season, citing that as a reason why the Dodgers wouldn’t alter their trade deadline plans.
But that was before Buehler went on the IL and they shut Kershaw down. Now? All bets are off.
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