July 2nd, 2016 at 7:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka When word spread on Thursday afternoon that the Dodgers had acquired 31-year-old right-hander Bud Norris from the Atlanta Braves, it was received with much skepticism. After all, the eight-year MLB veteran was being asked to do something which, quite frankly, no other human being is capable of doing – fill the void in the Dodgers starting rotation created when Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw landed on the 15-day disabled list for a “mild disc herniation.” Note the use of the words fill the void as opposed to replace because, simply put, there is no replacement for the three-time NL Cy Young award winner and 2014 NL MVP, only someone to occupy Kershaw’s spot in the rotation until he returns.
Granted, Norris had posted some extremely impressive numbers over his last six starts with the Braves (2-1 with a 2.08 ERA), but he arrived in Los Angeles with a less-than-stellar season mark of 3-7 with a 4.22 ERA, thus causing Dodger fans to believe that their beloved team had acquired yet another aging number five starter who would be lucky to get out of the fifth inning.
“He’s not here to replace Clayton Kershaw,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters before Norris made his Dodgers debut on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. To the surprise of everyone, even Dave Roberts, what they got from Norris was about as close to a Kershaw-like performance that anyone will ever get. It included no runs and only two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in six outstanding innings of work that resulted in a 5-0 shutout of the Colorado Rockies.
There wasn’t anyone, not even Bud Norris, who expected him to throw a two-hit shutout through his six innings of work in his Dodgers debut on Friday night. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
“He had good velocity and he was getting ahead of guys. He was very efficient,” Roberts said after the game. “We felt he was a frontline guy the way he was throwing the baseball his last three or four turns [with the Braves].”
So why, then, did Roberts pull Norris after six innings with the Dodgers clinging to a precarious 1-0 lead?
“I made the decision that 88 pitches was good,” Roberts said. “We had a ‘pen that was in good standing and I wanted him to finish with a really good taste in his mouth.”
Norris himself admits that he was a bit pumped in his Dodgers debut but dismissed any notion that he felt any Kershaw-like expectations on him.
“It’s all an adrenaline rush. You really got to slow the game down as a pitcher, that’s what they say first and foremost,” Norris said. “Regardless of Clayton, I wish him well. We’re going to get him back as quick as possible.”
As for his Dodgers debut itself, Norris credits Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal for helping him pick up his first win with his new team and fourth on the season.
“Everything [was working]. You got to throw to both sides of the plate. That’s a good hitting ball club over there,” Norris said. “[My] Cutter was good, slider was good, and four-seam, sinker to both sides. I had a good mix and Grandal called a good game.”
While no one, not even Norris himself, has any misconceptions whatsoever that he is replacing Kershaw, chances are that Dodger fans everywhere went to bed feeling a lot better about the newest member of their favorite team and will feel a lot more confident when the Greenbrae, California native takes the mound again in five days.
Well done, Bud. Well done indeed.
Posted in 
It’s not easy to hold the Rockies scoreless, even on the road.
He did a fantastic job, we couldn’t ask for anything more.
NO, we couldn’t ask for anything more! Great job.
I am also really pleased how the whole team has rallied, and hit, since getting the news on Kershaw. Seems like the players aren’t ready to give up on THIS season, quite yet.
This one makes me happy. Bud Norris is not going to pitch 2 hit 6 inning shutouts the remainder of the year, but I do think that he will be competitive, and will be a good addition thru the last half. If he is on the plus side of .500 the trade will be deemed positive (in my mind). If he can go 9-5 or 8-6, he will be a good addition. Anything above that would be great. Perhaps Bud can teach Baez that cutter so that he can back away from that pitch he calls a changeup.
The other reason I liked the outcome was because of the “skepticism” Norris received. Those who absolutely hate everything FAZ does (and doesn’t do), were all over the FO because of this trade. Another FAZ reject…more garbage dump diving…they can’t help themselves getting these pitchers who don’t belong in baseball… And the one I really liked was why did they go after Norris when they should and could have gone after Teheran. As if Teheran was available. There are some who blamed the FO for Kershaw’s injury. They indicate that Kershaw got hurt because the Dodgers did not re-sign Greinke, or sign Zimmerman, Price, or Cueto. They say that Kershaw believed he had to do it all by himself so he got hurt. I get part of the attitude. 28 years is a long time for this organization to get back to the WS. But the venom is just unbelievable.
I have no visions of grandeur with this team as it is currently constructed. They are not a WS favorite (but then again neither were last year’s Mets or the 88 Dodgers). But I do think they will continue to compete, and Bud Norris is just a piece that makes it an easier transition. FAZ has stated that their goal was to build the farm so that it can continually feed the ML team, become financially sustainable, but remain competitive until that happens. That is what they have tried for the last two years. Some moves work, others not so well. But they were made, and the heart and soul of the farm system has not been touched.
I do not expect Norris to go 15-0 with a sub 2.00 ERA. And it is possible that he will become this year’s version of Mat Latos (but I do not think so). But for this one night, I will be happy that Bud Norris was a Dodger just to quiet the haters for a little while (okay maybe one night because Kazmir is pitching tonight, and the haters love to rip him).
Very well stated. Many folks don’t seem to understand that FAZ has two parallel plans as you mention. One is to attempt to stay competitive in the present even in the midst of the countless injuries. Hence, a Bud Norris is acquired at a very reasonable cost to the team.
The other is to build for the future and be dominant over the long haul. For two and one-half decades the Dodgers have tried to buy a winner. That hasn’t worked very well as it always leads back to square one with lengthy, bloated contracts to guys on the downhill side of their careers. It takes time to build but it is worth the wait. Folks also forget that if they want a high first round draft pick – a Bryce Harper type of pick – the team has to sink very low in the overall MLB standings. And, the same folks don’t want that.
I don’t know how Bud Norris will work out. Maybe he has turned the corner with a new pitch or maybe he will have the new team success so many guys have for a limited period of time.
In any event, he was all business last night. His workmanship reminded my of Orel Hershiser. Get the ball, get on the hill and go to work.It was most enjoyable watching him work and having the team rally around him.
Excellent points AC.
I am one who believes that skepticism and even criticism are good things, as they are the only recourse that we as fans have when it comes to the actions and transactions of F&Z (or whoever else is in the hot seat at the time). I suspect that to some degree these things actually filter back to these guys from this and the many other Dodgers blog sites out there.
But by the same token and as Harold mentioned, these guys also deserve a pat on the back every once in a while when their actions and transactions actually pan out – something that they receive far less than the skepticism and criticism that they get.
Obviously it’s WAAAAY to soon to put Norris into either category for F&Z but it is impossible not to like what we saw in Norris in his Dodgers debut. I was most impressed with how quickly he worked. In fact, I posted this on Twitter soon after Roberts pulled Norris (lol!):
I have to disagree AlwaysCompete.
Teheran is available!!! “The Braves are giving teams the impression that it’ll take a huge haul to land Julio Teheran, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). In fact, Atlanta is signaling that it wants a return that’s “better than the Shelby Miller deal,” per a rival executive.”
I wouldn’t want FAZ to pay a Shelby Miller price in a million years, but, we know, AZ might if the cupboard wasn’t already bare.
And yes, Bluenose Dodger, FAZ has two parallel plans. I am not an ESPN insider, but, here is the headline on ESPN, “Cubs, Dodgers top MLB Future Power Ranks”. Looks like one of the two parallel plans is going well.
Oh, and we have the best record in baseball besides division leaders. Top spot for a wildcard! And a better record than Boston, Toronto, Royals, Detroit, Mets, Cardinals and Pirates. Not bad at all, considering all the injuries.
Boxout, I concede…everyone is available. But a Shelby Miller package does not get a return phone call. It will take more than the Phillies haul on Cole Hamels. Last year Hamels was 31 and a salary of $22.5M/year thru 2018 and a $20M club option for 2019. The Phillies wanted to dump the salary. The Phillies got Jared Eickhoff (tossup as to whether he or Velazquez is the current Ace of the Phillies), the Rangers #1 pitcher, #1 catcher, and #1 OF. No they did not get Joey Gallo, which allows many Dodger fans to believe that they could have got Hamels for De Leon and some lower level prospects. The Dodgers did not have anywhere near the ML ready players that Texas had and Phillies wanted.
Teheran is 25 with a contract thru 2019 totaling $25.3M and a $12M club option for 2020. Unless the Dodgers are starting with Urias, why would the Braves listen when they need an Ace to open the 2017 season in a new ballpark? It is not a salary dump, they are not trying to win this year, and they need a cost controlled Ace. They already have that in Teheran. They have one of the better farm systems so they do not need multiple prospects who may never approach what Teheran gives them now. The Braves FO snookered the DBacks with Shelby Miller, I do not see their intelligence dropping by moving Teheran.
If the Dodgers are serious about making any significant kind of move, I would hope that their focus is on Lucroy (without Braun). No to Erasmo Ramirez or Jay Bruce. If they want a mid-rotation starter, look to see what it would cost to get Jake Odorizzi. But seriously look at an 8th inning setup guy and another 7th inning pitcher; dump Hatcher and send Baez to OKC to learn Norris’ cutter.
You know I agree 100%.
I would love Lucroy at the “right” price. Other than that, I don’t see FAZ making any big trades of high end prospects this year. I am content waiting for reinforcements from within the organization. A healthy Kershaw, Ryu, McCarthy, Wood and Ethier could solve a lot of problems. Especially coupled with everyone hitting like they are capable.
Good to see you two posting somewhere.
Hey dodgerpatch! One of my favorite posters. Good to see you also!
Dodgerpatch, what Boxout said. Good to hear from you.
I know a couple of guys that thought Norris was just another #4 or #5 starter on the wrong side of 30 acquired by F&Z… and I was one of them!
And to say Bud Norris didn’t pitch like a #4 or #5 starter last night doesn’t do last night justice! Here’s to continued success, Bud!
So, abandoning one pitch for the sake of another, and suddenly a guy finds the repeatable delivery essential to becoming a front-line starter in MLB, and the guy does this in the middle of his career? Could it really be all that simple? What a reinvention. I want to know which pitching coach, or coaches, had the makeover idea, and why?
And Harold was right; Bud Norris was all business last night. Guy was on a mission and he wasn’t going to be caught up in the whole dilemma of Kershaw’s absence. A very “top of the rotation” performance, indeed.
Absolutely–if it was a coach who turned Bud around, we should hire him. As AC notes, we have a lot of guys who could benefit from a turnaround. Great job by Norris.
BTW Tepesch got rocked pitching against OKC last night. Win some, lose some.
I was watching that game on MLB.TV. Tepesch kind of breezed through the first five innings but gave up the grand slam in the sixth inning.
Mike Bolsinger has started to morph into a relief pitcher.
That was the plan when they sent Bols back down. He had that dreaded second-time-through-the-rotation disease. This could be his ticket back up. Mike is a great guy.
Blanton seems to have re-invented himself very successfully; so there is precedent to hope that Norris has also. Maybe we are entering the era of re-invention.
Blanton (now affectionately called “Blantrum”) was among my very first interviews this past spring. He is really focused and dialed in since moving to the bullpen. He’s not a warm-and-fuzzy kind of guy but he takes his work very serious.
PS: Loved that barehanded grab of his last night. lol!