Much has been written, blogged, broadcast and tweeted about the Dodgers making do with a three-man starting rotation in the absence of number three starter Hyun-jin Ryu and number four starter Brandon McCarthy. But the truth of the matter is that while on paper it appears the Dodgers are getting by with only Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Brett Anderson – and getting by exceptionally well – they actually have an eight-man starting rotation.

Since Opening Day, the Dodgers have used Scott Baker, Mike Bolsinger (who will be used again in tonight’s game vs. Miami), David Huff, Joe Wieland and Carlos Frias (who will likely remain in the starting rotation – for now, at least) to augment the services of Kershaw, Greinke and Anderson – and rest assured, this is not a coincidence.

In his first start with the Dodgers on April 23, Mike Bolsinger allowed only one run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched. If he can put up similar numbers in tonight’s game against the Marlins, he could very well find himself in a permanent spot in the Dodgers rotation instead of on a flight back to Oklahoma City. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

After taking over the reins of the Dodgers front office last October 14 and November 6 respectively, President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and General Manager Farhan Zaidi immediately went to work assembling a group of stating pitchers through free agency or via trades and/or cash considerations. The result is a starting rotation at Triple-A Oklahoma City that rivals many major league teams – several of whom are former first or second round-draft picks who suffered arm injuries that basically left them unattractive to other MLB teams. And while this Friedman/Zaidi (F/Z) M.O. hasn’t always worked out, it has more than it hasn’t.

It’s terrifying to think of where the Dodgers would be today in the standings today had F/Z not done what they did and continue to do. And while none of the Dodgers spot starters haven’t overwhelmed anybody in their starts, they, for the most part, have done well enough collectively to keep the Dodgers in the games in which they started – before being sent right back down to OKC.

There is little doubt that being called up to the Dodgers for one or perhaps two starts and then being sent right back down to Triple-A is tough to deal with psychologically and emotionally for these guys. But one has to believe that they have been thoroughly briefed on what is at stake here for the Dodgers  – a long-overdue return to the World Series, something that each of them will have been an important part of should it happen.

It would be criminal not to acknowledge the absolutely outstanding Dodgers bullpen that Friedman and Zaidi also put together during the off-season – a bullpen whose 1.85 ERA is the second best in the National League behind only the St. Louis Cardinals’ 1.61 ERA. They are also second in the league in wins (seven), second in fewest runs allowed (19) and second in batting average against (.184) behind the Mets (.181).

Although Friedman and Zaidi’s frequent flyer system new Dodgers Way is nothing like the Walter O’Malley and Branch Rickey (and later Peter O’Malley and Al Campanis’s) Dodgers Way, it is actually a stroke of genies that no Dodger fan saw coming. When a player is sent back down to the minors, they cannot be recalled back up to the parent team for 10 days – with the exception of replacing an injured player. By having a stable full of starting pitchers available at Triple-A Oklahoma City – and MLB-ready ones at that – this 10-day rule hasn’t caused the Dodgers to miss a beat to fill a temporary spot in their starting rotation… not yet, that is.

Aside from the rainout game in Denver this past weekend, the Dodgers have only two off days in May (18 and 28) and only one in June (11). This could cause that 10-day up-and-back-and-up again rule to become a factor and it could force F/Z to actually keep one of the Triple-A starters up longer than perhaps they’d like; which brings up another interesting topic – why haven’t the Dodgers called up 23-year-old right-hander Zach Lee to make a spot start with the big club yet?

As of this writing Lee has the best record at OKC (4-2), the fourth-best ERA (2.38) and the most strikeouts (29) than any other starting pitcher for the OKC Dodgers. And while the former 2010 first-round draft pick has no MLB experience to date, how on earth will he ever get it if he isn’t given the opportunity to? The answer to this undoubtedly boils down to the Dodgers maintaining service time control over the Plano, Texas native. But with the Dodgers need for a permanent fourth and fifth starter in their rotation, Lee is, hands down, the most obvious choice. That being said, Friedman and Zaidi appear to be content with the back-and-forth thing instead of starting the MLB service time clock on Lee – this in spite of his tremendous success at the Triple-A level.

By every indication, the only reason why Zach Lee hasn’t been called up to the Dodgers yet is because they do not want to start his service time clock yet. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The bottom line is that Friedman and Zaidi’s eight-man roster thing has worked for the Dodgers and it will probably continue to work – at least for a little long. And who knows – if Carlos Frias and Mike Bolsinger do well in their next couple of starts, perhaps they will become the Dodgers number four and number five starters. If they do, F/Z will not only come across as being brilliant, they will also save the Dodgers a fortune on round-trip airfare between Oklahoma City and Los Angeles.