Prior to Monday night’s game against the Padres, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that Carlos Frias, who was called up to the Dodgers on August 4 and who has been a starting pitcher throughout his entire eight-year minor league career, would not be getting another start in the 17 remaining games this season.

Why?

“As of right now there are no plans to give Carlos another start, and yesterday (Sunday, September 7) kind of may give you a little indication why,” said Mattingly. “He was able to come in yesterday and just… in the first inning he comes in he pretty much attacks for strikes. He’s there getting us three outs then he’s able to go back out. We’ve had some kind of middle innings issues and where to go at certain times so he can be a valuable guy right there where he was at yesterday or in that area of the game depending on how we get there.”

No one will dispute that Carlos Frias has done exceptionally well as a middle innings guy in his brief time with the big league club, but the glaring problem is that the Dodgers have an even more serious problem with their number five guy in the starting rotation with Roberto Hernandez.

There is no kind way to say it, Roberto Hernandez has been absolutely awful in his last three outings. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

In his six starts since being acquired by the Dodgers on August 7, Hernandez is 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. He has walked 10 and struck out 20 and has served up five home runs. Additionally, he has yet to pitch more than six innings since joining the Dodgers and lasted only three innings is Tuesday’s painful 6-3 loss to the Padres.

As critical as it is to have an effective middle innings reliever, it is even more critical to have an effective number five man in your starting rotation, and make no mistake about it, Carlos Frias is an effective starter.

“He was a starter all the way [through his minor league career],” said Dodgers bullpen coach Chuck Crim, who coached Frias since rookie ball in 2009. “He’s got a starter mix, he’s got so many weapons, so many pitches. He’s never been afraid.”

Even though the Dodgers need a good middle innings guy, Carlos Frias’s true talent is as a starter and the Dodgers are wasting that talent when they need it most. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although Frias has made only one spot start since his call up, he was absolutely brilliant in that outing, allowing no runs on three hits with one walk and four strikeouts in six innings pitched against the NL East-leading Washington Nationals. Unfortunately, he received no run support in that game and did not figure in the decision.

In his 22.1 total innings pitched (six as a starter) Frias has allowed 9 earned runs for a 3.63 ERA and an outstanding WHIP of 0.85. He has walked four (one intentionally), struck out 12 and given up two home runs. In other words, he has been significantly more effective than Roberto Hernandez.

The bottom line is that when the Dodgers begin play on Wednesday night, they will do so leading the second place Giants by only 2.5 games in the NL West. And when it is essential to win every game from here on out, the chances of that happening with Roberto Hernandez in the starting rotation are far less likely than if they had Carlos Frias in their starting rotation.

You can’t have it both ways, Don. Either Carlos Frias is your middle reliever or he is your number five starter – and you have very little time left to make a decision on this; and the wrong decision could be devastating.