Dodgers Team Report 8-4-2011

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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

INSIDE PITCH

The ramifications from rookie Rubby De La Rosa’s season-ending Tommy John surgery will be evident for quite some time.

The latest, a more subtle one, is that the Dodgers will give ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw an extra day of rest before his next start. Actually, all of the Dodgers starters will get an extra day of rest.

De La Rosa’s next start was scheduled for Saturday. The Dodgers could have kept everybody on a normal four days rest and pushed the fifth spot back to Tuesday against the Phillies.

Before the Dodgers’ 3-0 loss to the Padres on Wednesday, manager Don Mattingly was non-committal about who would fill De La Rosa’s spot in the rotation. He did say Kershaw would start Sunday with five days of rest.

Kershaw went the distance in his last start Monday, and he threw 125 pitches in the start before that. With the playoffs so far out of reach, there’s no sense testing the limits of Kershaw’s arm—or anybody else’s.

In his next start after Sunday, Kershaw will also get an extra day of rest. But after Aug. 25, the Dodgers have just one off day the rest of the season—a stretch that includes 24 games in a row—so he’ll have plenty of starts on four days of rest.

Kershaw, 23, is second in the league with 161 1/3 innings, and seventh with 2,416 pitches thrown this year. He’s never had an arm injury in his career.

The news on De La Rosa will linger in the Dodgers’ minds whenever there’s a decision about whether to let a starter go a little deeper in a game.

As Mattingly said, “I don’t want to be a guy that’s blowing arms out all over the place.”

By giving Kershaw the extra day of rest, it sets up a matchup of 13-game winners Sunday: Kershaw vs. Arizona’s Ian Kennedy.

In theory, John Ely could start Saturday. He’s in the bullpen now as the team’s long reliever, but it doesn’t sound as if the Dodgers want to start a guy whose ERA was 5.43 at Class AAA Albuquerque before he was promoted this week.

Class AA Chattanooga right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is the odds-on favorite to start Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Eovaldi last started Monday, so he’d be on a perfect four days of rest. He was previously pushed back to start on the same days as Hiroki Kuroda in case of a trade.

Eovaldi allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings in his last start. He’s 6-5 with a 2.62 ERA and .203 opponents batting average.

The best starter at Albuquerque, Dana Eveland, pitched Tuesday. The second-best starter at Chattanooga, Steve Webster, started Wednesday.

NOTES, QUOTES

• LHP Clayton Kershaw was named the National League pitcher of the month for July. It was his first monthly honor and the first for a Dodgers pitcher since Derek Lowe in 2006. Kershaw went 4-1 with a 2.02 ERA and a league-leading 45 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings.

• RHP Javy Guerra, in addition to being 9-for-9 in save chances, has pitched a clean ninth inning six times. The initial batter he’s faced was the tying run in seven of those outings.

• RHP Rubby De La Rosa will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery Tuesday. The operation will be performed by Dr. James Andrews, the leading surgeon for that procedure in the country.

• LHP Ted Lilly had one of his best starts of the year, giving up one run in six innings Wednesday at San Diego. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh, trailing 1-0, the only run on a Jason Bartlett home run. In Lilly’s previous two starts, the Dodgers had scored 16 runs.

• C Dioner Navarro committed his sixth error of the season in the seventh inning, a wild throw into center field on a stolen-base attempt. That’s tied for the sixth-most errors among all catchers, even though Navarro has started just 38 games.

By The Numbers: 4—Players in baseball history with more than 500 plate appearances and fewer than 20 RBI in a season. Dodgers INF Jamey Carroll could become the fifth, as he currently sits at 362 plate appearances and 10 RBI. The others are: Ron Hunt (1972 Expos, 531 PAs and 18 RBI); Gary Pettis (1989 Tigers, 536 PAs, 18 RBI); Luis Castillo (2000 Marlins, 626 PAs, 17 RBI); and Enzo Hernandez (1971 Padres, 618 PAs, 12 RBI).

Quote To Note: “I’ve been a big fan of James—and I thought he’d hit home runs, but I’ve gotten away from that. Last year at the break, he had 25 doubles, six homers, 63 RBI. Is it that guy? That guy is fine, driving in 100, 110 runs. I don’t care if he hits home runs. But since then, he has 50 RBI in 700 at-bats. Which way is it going? That’s a tough call. It depends on what’s going on around him. We have Matt (Kemp) and Andre (Ethier). I still feel we need another thumper. Where is the thumper at? Left field, third base, second base? Looking into the future, there’s a missing piece.”—manager Don Mattingly, admitting that James Loney is no longer the starting first baseman. Between left field and first base, Mattingly has three players (Tony Gwynn, Jr., Juan Rivera and Loney) for two spots. Loney didn’t start Wednesday for the third time in five games. Loney was introduced as a pinch hitter Wednesday, then lifted for a pinch hitter himself before he got into the batter’s box after Padres manager Bud Black countered with a lefty reliever.

ROSTER REPORT

Medical Watch:

• RHP Rubby De La Rosa (sprained ulnar collateral ligament in right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list Aug. 1. He will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery Aug. 9.

• RHP Kenley Jansen (irregular heartbeat) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 27. He was hospitalized after the July 26 game, and he was released from the hospital July 27.

• INF Juan Uribe (left hip strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 24.

• RHP Jonathan Broxton (bone bruise on right elbow) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 4. He threw a bullpen session June 7. He made rehab appearances on June 21 and 23 for Class AAA Albuquerque, but he felt tightness in his elbow when playing catch June 25, and he was shut down from throwing. He was cleared to begin a throwing program in early August, and he might be able to return in early September.

• RHP Vicente Padilla (right radial nerve irritation, sore neck) went on the 15-day disabled list May 14 due to the arm injury. He began a rehab assignment with Class A Rancho Cucamonga on May 29, but he was shut down in early June due to a neck ailment. He underwent neck surgery June 16, and he likely will miss the rest of the season.

• RHP Jon Garland (right shoulder inflammation) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 2. He played catch June 21 but had to shut it down quickly. He underwent season-ending surgery during the All-Star break and began his rehab.

Rotation:

LHP Clayton Kershaw

RHP Chad Billingsley

LHP Ted Lilly

RHP Hiroki Kuroda

Bullpen:

RHP Javy Guerra (closer)

RHP Matt Guerrier

LHP Scott Elbert

RHP Mike MacDougal

LHP Hong-Chih Kuo

RHP Blake Hawksworth