ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The injuries that have eroded the Dodgers’ starting rotation could change their priorities as the in-season trade deadline approaches, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged.
“Potentially,” he said. “Right now it’s early. I think using the first 3, 3½ months to assess your roster and what the needs are helps crystallize how you approach things in July. So things we thought in February or March turn out to be things you don’t need to focus on. But another area pops up. It’s a little bit like a game of whack-a-mole.”
Early-season injuries to Dustin May, Julio Urias, Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot made starting pitching pop up as an area of need. The Dodgers addressed that by calling up prospects Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller, turning to them earlier than Friedman admits they had planned.
“I would have been surprised if you had said (before the season), ‘Hey, in the middle of May, you’re going to have to call on both.’ I would have been really surprised,” Friedman said. “But obviously Grover was injured, building back up, wasn’t built up yet. Pep is still going through what he’s going through. Then D-May and Julio – when you go through four guys you end up getting to that layer.
“It’s a great opportunity for those guys. We think the world of them talent-wise. Was it the ideal time developmentally to bring them up? Probably not. That’s happened a lot of other times where you have to do something a little sooner. Sometimes you’re wrong about that and they take the opportunity and run with it. We’re open to that as well.”
The Dodgers will know more about May’s potential return when they are closer to the trade deadline. Friedman acknowledged that “initially” surgery was a possibility for May.
“I think now we’re in a good spot where that doesn’t seem like something we’ll need to do,” Friedman said.
Instead, May received a platelet-rich plasma injection and will not throw for a minimum of four weeks. After that, he will be re-evaluated.
KERSHAW RETURNS
Clayton Kershaw rejoined the Dodgers in Tampa and was activated from the bereavement list on Friday following the death of his mother. Right-hander Tayler Scott was returned to Triple-A Oklahoma City without making an appearance with the Dodgers this week.
Kershaw is scheduled to start Saturday but threw off the bullpen mound briefly Friday afternoon.
“Yeah, that was the one thing I didn’t do at home,” he said. “I haven’t thrown bullpens before (and then started). It’s not a big deal.”
Over his past two starts, Kershaw has given up six runs on 12 hits and four walks in just 7⅔ innings, failing to pitch more than four innings in back-to-back starts for the first time since his rookie season in 2008.
After his most recent start in St. Louis, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kershaw had been dealing with “body fatigue.” He repeated that Friday.
“I talked to Clayton a little bit today. He certainly feels much better than he did the last couple starts,” Roberts said. “There was some kind of overall body fatigue. The ball wasn’t coming out well. He’s in a considerably better spot going into tomorrow’s start.”
Roberts said Kershaw was “adamant” about making his start Saturday and didn’t want it pushed back.
“I think maybe an 11:30 (a.m.) start on Sunday might’ve had a little something to do with the math,” Roberts joked.
Kershaw denied there was any physical issue behind his back-to-back poor starts.
“Just didn’t pitch good,” he said.
“I feel great. Excited to pitch tomorrow. Good to be back. … Right where I need to be.”
PITCHING DEPTH
The Dodgers claimed right-hander Zack Burdi off waivers from the Rays on Friday. Burdi was a college roommate of Dodgers catcher Will Smith at Louisville and both were taken in the first round of the 2016 draft. Burdi went six spots ahead of Smith, 26th overall to the Chicago White Sox.
Burdi, 28, has a total of 21⅓ innings in the big leagues with the White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay. He was designated for assignment by the Rays earlier this week.
“Really good fastball-slider combo,” Friedman said. “Obviously our pitching depth has been depleted some so it helps reset that depth for us. It’s a talented arm that we feel has a chance at some point this year to help us.”
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Clayton Kershaw, 6-4, 2.98 ERA) at Rays (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 2023 season debut), Saturday, 1:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM
