August 4th, 2016 at 11:46 am 
by Ron Cervenka There is no getting around the fact that the loss of Clayton Kershaw has been a devastating blow to the Dodgers. His loss has not only had a huge impact on the NL West standings but it has taxed the Dodgers bullpen to the point where two of their best relievers have landed on the disabled list. But while the forecast for the Dodgers starting rotation with only 55 games remaining may be a bit on the uncomfortable side, some significant help – very significant, in fact – may be only one rehab start away in the form of 28-year-old left-hander Brett Anderson.
Oh sure, in his first full season with the Dodgers the Midland, Texas native was a number four or number five starter behind guys named Kershaw and Greinke and Ryu and for awhile McCarthy, but by the time the 2015 NLDS rolled around, Anderson had become the team’s number three starter. But only two weeks after pitchers and catchers reported for spring training 2016, the soft-spoken, extremely humorous lefty was diagnosed with a bulging disk in his lower back and underwent surgery on March 3 before making even one spring training appearance after accepting the Dodgers one-year / $15.8 million qualifying offer during the off-season.
After a near-season-long recovery period, Anderson made his first rehabilitation start on July 28 with the team’s Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes which, in his own words, “was pretty good.” In that start Anderson allowed one run on five hits with no walks and one strikeout. He left the game after completing his pre-arranged three innings of work well under his 55-pitch limit. He had thrown only 36 pitches of which 25 were strikes and ended his evening by making an additional 19 pitches in the Quakes bullpen after exiting the game.
If all goes as planned, rehabbing left-hander Brett Anderson could return to the Dodgers starting rotation as early as Friday, August 12. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
But it’s what Anderson did in his second rehab start with the Quakes this past Tuesday night against the Stockton Ports (A’s) at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton that should have Dodger fans excited about his pending return to the Dodgers starting rotation. Although it was hoped that he would go five innings, Anderson only made it through four innings, having thrown 64 pitches of which 44 were strikes. But in those four innings he allowed only two unearned runs on three hits and one walk while striking out eight Ports batters. That’s not a typo, he struck out eight of the 16 batters he face in only four innings.
But wait, there’s more!
Perhaps of even greater news to Dodger fans (and most certainly to the Dodgers front office) was Anderson’s fastball velocity on Tuesday night. This from Quakes co-play-by-play man Max Gun:
The initial plan – at least according to Anderson – is for him to have a total of three rehab starts before a decision is made on him returning to the Dodgers starting rotation. If he remains on a five-day rotation, as he is expected to do, his third and perhaps final rehab start will be on Sunday, August 7. And though it is unknown (at the time of this writing) where that rehab start might be, this would line him up for a possible start with the Dodgers as early as Friday, August 12 when the Dodgers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Should Anderson indeed return to the Dodgers on schedule, he will probably be on an innings/pitch-count limit, at least initially. That being said, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently told reporters that he anticipates the hard-throwing left-hander will immediately be inserted into the Dodgers rotation upon his return, as opposed to becoming a bullpen piece.
“My hope, our hope is to get him plugged into the rotation,” said the Dodgers skipper.
By no means should Brett Anderson ever be considered a replacement for three-time Cy Young award winner and former NL MVP Clayton Kershaw. But if he continues to pitch the way he has in his first two rehab starts, it’s hard to argue that his return to the Dodgers rotation couldn’t come at a better time.
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“That’s stupid. FAZ is Stupid. They are horrible. They have never won anything. Theo has. Kershaw will leave. All they do is sign injured players. They haven’t done anything. Roberts is a puppet. Grandal is horrible . Why did they sign Utley? Bring back Kemp. They should have signed Greinke and Price and Cueto. Howie is done. They have no plan. I’ll take the under.”
Three days away from the other site. What a bunch of idiots! I still can’t believe it! Damn, Ron – never let those guys in here!
BTW, Right on! Brett Anderson could help a lot. It looks like Ryu may not be back. We could use a healthy Anderson.
While I try not to get overly excited when I personally watch (and interview) rehabbing players, I pretty much nailed it with both McCarthy (good) and Ryu (bad).
Watching Anderson in his first rehab start with the Quakes, I was very impressed with what I saw and, for the first time, I actually began to think that maybe, just maybe he might actually make it back before the end of the season. And though I did not personally see his second rehab start with the Quakes in Stockton, I followed it closely on MiLB Gameday and was blown away by what he did in his four innings of work.
Granted, High-A is NOT the MLB, but a strike is a strike and, even more so, a strikeout is a strikeout.
Although Anderson only hit 89 on the gun in his first start, hitting 93 in his second is HUGE. But what I liked most was his control and his ability to keep the ball down in the zone consistently. This tells me that he is a lot closer to being game-ready than I thought he was. As noted, his return couldn’t come at a better time.
As for the groundhogs on other sites (dubbed so because they always seem to rant about the same thing day after day after day every single day), I will welcome them here with open arms. However, if they try to do that on here, they won’t be here for long. There are already a couple on here who are a heartbeat away from being sent on their merry (or un-merry) way, as the case may be. Ironically, it is/was that type of conduct that actually led to the creation of the ThinkBlueLA forum and blog site so, in a way, I thank them for that – but not enough to allow it on here. ; )
Mark, I am glad that you are posting here. I missed reading your comments. The problem that many on the other site have is that they find something to criticize about every game. Some aren’t satisfied with counseling others as to how bad the team is constructed, but they criticize every at-bat and often times each pitch. Strategic planning is a concept lost on those that live for the moment. That being said, I understand frustration and impatience with a team that has gone 28 year without a WS appearance. It’s the decisions that were made before Friedman was hired that were so restricting (roster and $$$) that there wasn’t much that he and Zaidi could do to make them WS favorites. But they did keep them as contenders. Would the Dodgers have won if Ryu did not go down with a possible career ending shoulder injury or McCarthy with TJ? We will never know. But I do know that the other site’s commentary would have been that it was won in spite of FAZ.
But forgetting all of the negativity on the other site, this site is more than outstanding. I especially like it because, as you know, I am a big minor league fan, and nobody does better in coverage than Ron, Harold, and the others. All I have to do is take time in reading “Down On The Farm” commentary and comments, and I know that I am reading information from some of the most knowledgeable people writing about the Dodgers Organization. It is really what I was missing.
Mark, you and I were both chastised for believing in Brett Anderson. So I am emotionally invested in him coming back and providing a big lift to this team. He is more than capable of doing so.
I just laugh Mark. Dodger fans, and some that are supposedly “knowledgeable” can really call for some dumb moves. FAZ has a plan and they’re sticking to it. Imagine what this team would look like without Seager? And so many were OK was trading him away last year along with Urias for two months of David Price.
Because of FAZ the core of kids remain. DeLeon is in the wings with all his options. Urias is with the club, working up his innings and gaining experience. Bellinger is in line to take over for a regressing AGon. And then there are guys that contribute like Toles who they swooped up and he came out of no where
Those guys know what they’re doing. They lined up about 10 options for starters now for two years in a row, and most of us thought they were crazy for doing so. Yet here we are and they’ve all been used. They snatched up bullpen arms that were solid cast offs from other orgs and they’ve proved to be one of if not THE best bullpen in the league.
So they moved Puig to AAA. I don’t fully get it, but I trust they know what they are doing.
FAZ was saddled with all those crappy contracts from the Boston trade, and they are slowly getting out from under that. Watch what these guys can do once they get to spend freely once the Ned contracts fizzle out with time. Heck, they already freed themselves of 90% of the Kemp contract. That took a minor miracle, and in the end, we got Yaz out of it.
Looking forward to Anderson’s contributions. Just hoping that he will be able to go deep into some game soon ‘cuz we certainly need that
I don’t expect any changes once they can spend freely because they never have and likely never will. I think Anthopolous is on board to take charge if Guggs ever wants to open up the pocketbook again, if they don’t cash out and sell the team first.
Never is a long time.
Anthopolous is on board because Friedman valued him as an advisor and friend. What does open the pocketbooks mean? That their payroll will be double what others are, because now it’s just #1?
I think not! That is not to way to win. Look at the Cubs – the Dodgers are headed down that same path – homegrown and then add a few free agents.
Harold keeps reminding me to stay the course, which is exactly what the Dodgers are doing. It’s smart money well spent in the long run and I couldn’t agree more. Right, Harold? 😎
Very good news, something the Dodgers don’t seem to get much of these days. I look forward to seeing a Brett Anderson resurgence at Dodger Stadium in the near future.
If the Dodgers can soon get some semblance of a core starting rotation, it would be a huge boost in team confidence. They can ill-afford any prolonged losing slump right now, especially with the season winding down as quickly as it is. Hard to imagine that we’re only 8 weeks away from the end of the regular season.
I mean… I don’t agree with everything FAZ does, but dang!
OK, I am over it and I’ll never mention it again.
😉
I have also left the other sight. To negative for me. The writer of the blog is just as negative as the responders. It will be nice to have Anderson back. We need 5 decent starters to go at least six innings.
Pitching in Colorado has to be difficult.
1. Maeda
2. Kazmir
3. McCarthy
4. Anderson
5. De Leon? Saturday?
6. Hill? Sunday?
I think I would do those 6 until Kershaw comes back… if he comes back.
“…if he comes back.”
I just winced a little bit when I saw that.
I think that is reality. We really have no idea and the Dodgers are not going to share his medical records with us… nor should they. The fact that it has lingered so long makes me believe there is a surgery in his future. I feel certain he will be ready for Spring Training and HOPEFULLY will pitch THIS SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER! WE just don’t know.
On Yasmani Grandal:
You cannot believe the vitriol LASHED TOWARDS Grandal at another board. While I know he needs to get a little better at blocking pitches in the dirt, I feel that he is a TOP 20% Catcher. Tell me if you disagree. He is a great “framer” although some don’t believe in that, I have seen him snatch balls into strikes on many critical occasions.
Among qualifiers, he is currently 5th in RBI among catchers, 2nd in HR, 6th in OB%, 4th in OPS… AND THIS IS AFTER A HORRIBLE START! I said when the Dodgers traded for him that he would be a 25 HR guy and was mocked for that. Then he got hurt the second half of last year and the boo morons came out again.
I think he has acquitted himself very well and I think the Dodgers catching position is in good hands with Grandal and Barnes next year and beyond! Question: What to do with AJ?
A.J.’s coaching career is going to be a fantastic one. He’ll definitely be a Major League manager one day… but I’m guessing his playing days are numbered. A body only gets so many knee surgeries before it’s time to hang ’em up.
As for Yasmani Grandal, I’ve mentioned this point several times this year; he may not be getting a ton of hits, but when he does hit he makes them count. This guy has an uncanny knack for timely hitting. That’s why the OPS is where it’s at. I can only imagine where his numbers would be if he were hitting .275?
As for his glove work, he’s holding his own in my opinion. One of the best framers of pitches in the league.
Why such vitriol today? If it’s so much better here, why the need for playground talk? If your argument is better, won’t your words stand on their own? Threatening to censor those with difference of opinions? That sinks to LADodgertalk levels and not becoming Ron.
And Evan I think it’s disingenuous to say anyone was for trading both Seager and Urias for Price. NOBODY anywhere was for trading Seager and the only one who ever mentioned trading both was Mark Timmons as he insisted Philly insisted on both for Hamels. Maybe they did, who would know, but I really doubt it. There was recent talk from some about Urias for Sale, even Mark was ok with that (as was I) but it wasn’t going to happen.
We are all Dodger fans. Even the “negative Nellies” at Report are fans who just have different ideas about how to get things done. If we can’t talk civilly about our own team I think we should look in the mirror. I visit a lot of blogs and there are instigators everywhere. They aren’t that hard to spot and often aren’t easy to avoid engaging. But don’t you think we should make an effort?
The current team is moving along as I expected. Most, even those on “the other board”, had the team around 90 wins and the season going down to the last week. I still see it that way but without Kershaw (I immediately called for shutting him down) I don’t like the post season pitching match ups. I figured this starting staff would have injury issues, they do, and I figured Grandal would do what his career splits says he always does – hit well for a couple of months (career .324 in July) and admittedly I have my own DL Pool as I feel this team is made of glass.
We are on the same team here folks. Nobody wants the Dodgers to lose. Not everyone is on board with how management is going about their business. Can it be discussed like adults? And if I’m banned for asking, well, I guess I have my answer.
Mark, AJ should learn the ropes as a minor league manager… or a bench coach by Roberts side. He is a great guy and loves the Dodgers… and Badger you said it about the other site… “we can’t talk civilly about our own team.” lol!