The Los Angeles Dodgers continue winning despite injuries to key players in their starting rotation.
Between 2013-14, Hyun-Jin Ryu put up terrific numbers for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over 56 starts in two years, Ryu rather quietly went an impressive 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 2015, however, Ryu underwent shoulder surgery and missed the entire season.
Ryu was kept on the sidelines for nearly the entirety of the next season as well. He made only one start in 2016, allowing six earned runs over 4.2 innings of work against the San Diego Padres.
In 2017, although he may have begun the year a bit slowly and spent some time on the DL yet again, Ryu has bounced back in a big way. Over 20 games (19 starts), Ryu has now gone 5-6 with a 3.34 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Since July 24, he owns a 1.54 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP over six starts. Ryu’s solid stretch of outings has come at just the right time as well.
Injuries adding up in rotation
The Dodgers are currently without ace Clayton Kershaw and newly-acquired Yu Darvish. They most recently lost first-time All-Star Alex Wood to the DL as well. Darvish is reportedly on track to return on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, per Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. Kershaw realistically could return as early as next weekend, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
Assuming sim game/rehab game go without problems, earliest Clayton Kershaw would return is Aug 31 in AZ. More likely -- Sept. 1 in SD
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 20, 2017
Before Kershaw was placed on the DL with a back injury in late July, he was 15-2 with a 2.04 ERA. He looked well on his way to quite possibly winning the fourth NL Cy Young award of his career, with Max Scherzer being his biggest challenger. Darvish, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, went 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA over his first three starts with the Dodgers before being placed on the DL with back tightness.
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Wood was a remarkable 14-1 with a 2.41 ERA before landing on the DL with a shoulder injury. It shouldn’t be too long until the Dodgers get their big stars back, but with contributions from players such as Ryu, they have been able to keep winning anyway.
In addition to Ryu, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda have also been having nice seasons. Hill and Maeda, who have ERAs of 3.32 and 3.88, respectively, have both helped to hold down the fort as well. Brandon McCarthy, who has not pitched since July 20, will also soon begin rehabbing, per Plunkett.
Next: Case for Braves calling up Ronald Acuna
With so many talented pitchers, manager Dave Roberts may have a few tough decisions to make when deciding how to fill out his four-man playoff rotation after the obvious shoo-ins, but it is a good problem to have. Anything is possible once October comes around, but with 90 wins already, the Dodgers are looking more and more like they might be unstoppable.