As baseball fans, we tend to be big on assigning starting rotation numbers to pitchers. Although there is zero doubt that left-hander Clayton Kershaw is the Dodgers staff ace and their perennial number one, this does little good while he is on the disabled list for a mild disk herniation in his lower back with his return date still uncertain.

But what about the rest of the Dodgers starters? Where do they pencil into the rotation?

On Saturday Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered that question … sort of. As it stands right now, the Dodgers will kickoff their second half with right-hander Bud Norris pitching on Friday, July 15, in the first of three games with the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. He will be followed by right-hander Brandon McCarthy on Saturday, July 16, with right-hander Kenta Maeda pitching the series finale on Sunday, July 17.

Newcomer Bud Norris will kickoff the second half for the Dodgers on Friday night against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

After an off-day on Monday – the first of four consecutive Mondays off – left-hander Scott Kazmir will begin the three-game series with the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Tuesday, July 19, and left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu slated to round out the rotation on Wednesday, July 20; and then, presumably, it’s wash, rinse and repeat for the series finale in Washington, followed by a crucial three-game series with the ever-dangerous St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium before finally returning home to Dodgers Stadium to open up a brief five-game homestand.

With a total of six scheduled days off between July 15 and August 15, it’s probably safe to assume that Roberts will shake up his starting five during this time frame. Add to the mix the return of Kershaw, which some believe could happen as early as the series in St.Louis but is more likely to occur either when the team returns to Dodger Stadium and even more likely when the team is back out on the road in early August.

Kershaw was named to his sixth consecutive All-Star Game but did not participate in it; although it appears that Cali Ann wasn’t too concerned about that.
(Getty Images)

But regardless of when Kershaw returns, the current starting five must, absolutely must start logging more innings per start if they hope to keep their MLB-best bullpen in tiptop shape as the season winds down in preparation for a run at the postseason.

There is another factor that looms large – the August 1 trade deadline. Many believe that Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi are looking for a top-of-the-rotation starter and perhaps even another top-tier guy for their bullpen at the trade deadline. The obvious problem with this is that there aren’t many top-of-the-rotation guys available, which means that acquiring such a guy will more than likely mean taking on their existing (and undoubtedly very expensive) contract and would probably cost the Dodgers several of their top prospects. That said and to their credit, Friedman and Zaidi have been extremely protective of their top prospects and may instead choose to trade guys that are currently on their 25-man and 40-man rosters.

Any way you slice it, the next four weeks are going to be a very interesting for the Dodgers and their fans.

Stay tuned…