By now most Dodger fans are aware that left-hander Brett Anderson will be making his first rehab start tonight since undergoing back surgery on March 3, 2016 for a bulging disk in his lower back. Anderson is schedule to pitch three innings for the Dodgers Advanced Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at LoanMart Field. But even if all goes well for the extremely likable (and very funny) 28-year-old Midland, Texas native during what will probably be a month-long rehab assignment, how and where does Anderson fit into the Dodgers’ short term and long term plans?

“From everything I’ve heard the ball’s coming out of his hand really well and he feels good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Wednesday afternoon. “His back feels good, so I think that we’re just going to build him up and get him up here, get him up with us. My hope, our hope is to get him plugged into the rotation.”

Anderson last pitched in a major league game on October 12, 2015  – Game-3 of the ill-fated 2015 NLDS. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Anderson, as you may recall, accepted the Dodgers qualifying off this past winter but becomes a free agent at the end of this season.

With every indication that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi are looking to acquire a top-of-the-rotation starter before the August 1 non-waiver trade deadline due to the loss of staff ace Clayton Kershaw (ironically for a bulging disk as well), and the fact that Anderson is basically at a beginning-of-spring-training level right now, are Roberts’ hope of having Anderson back in his rotation and effective enough to help his team make it into the postseason realistic?

Keep in mind that there are only 60 games remaining in the regular season and Anderson would have to be on the Dodgers 25-man roster on August 31 to be eligible for postseason play. As such, this makes Roberts’ “hope” of getting Anderson back into the starting rotation a bit of a reach, although it certainly is possible.

Needless to say, the next couple of days and weeks are going to be very interesting for the Dodgers, with some extremely important (and difficult) decisions looming large.

Stay tuned…