最新杏吧原创

Clayton Kershaw turned back his clock Sunday, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are grateful that he did.

L.A. had lost three of four games heading into that contest. That big budget team could feel the San Diego Padres (three games back) and Arizona Diamondbacks (four games back) closing in on them in the National League West.

The Dodgers鈥� injury issues have persisted. They have put 11 different starting pitchers on the injured list this season. Their most recent casualty, Tyler Glasnow, went on the IL Friday with elbow tendinitis, knocking him out of the rotation for at least two turns.

鈥淲e took scans and that鈥檚 what came of it,鈥� Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. 鈥淥ur expectation is that it鈥檚 going to be the two weeks, we backdated it a few days, and then when his time is up, he鈥檒l be ready to make his start and we鈥檒l plug him in somewhere.

鈥淲hen he comes back, I think the governor is off. That鈥檚 the point of being in this process. He鈥檚 not going to come back until we feel like we can use him the way he鈥檚 supposed to be used as a Major League ace.鈥�

The team recalled Justin Wrobleski from Oklahoma City to start Friday against the Cardinals, then they recalled Bobby Miller from that Triple-A team to start Saturday.

Wrobleski and Miller combined to allow eight runs in 9 2/3 innings in their starts as the Dodgers managed a split in those games despite the poor starting pitching.

So the Dodgers needed their long-time ace to step up and he did, making short work of the feckless Cardinals batting order during his six shutout innings.

鈥淚 think that it鈥檚 not easy for a player to take on the responsibility of being a stopper, to go deep into a game, to manage stress a couple times and to keep going,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be able to experience it, go through it, to be able to be that guy. And I think everyone wants to be that guy, but you鈥檙e not until you do it and you continue to do it. So that鈥檚 something Clayton鈥檚 done his entire career.鈥�

Kershaw was making his fifth start since recovering from shoulder surgery. He didn鈥檛 overpower the Cardinals, but he was able to pick them apart during his highly efficient outing.

鈥淗onestly, I don鈥檛 even remember what it felt like to not have your shoulder hurt,鈥� Kershaw said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice. You wake up and everything feels good, shoulder feels good. It鈥檚 a good feeling.鈥�

Little by little, the Dodgers may be regaining strength. Walker Buehler is scraping off rust while continuing his comeback from Tommy John surgery. New staff ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is working toward his return from the shoulder soreness that landed him on the IL.

Reliever Ryan Brasier just came off the IL. Reliever Blake Treinen (hip strain) is expected back before the month is up.

Former Cardinals handyman Tommy Edman is expected to finally resume his big league career this week and take over in center field. Veteran third baseman Max Muncy could return this week as well.

And the Dodgers will look more like the Dodgers again. In the meantime, they are glad that Kershaw is Kershaw again.

TALKIN鈥� BASEBALL

Here is what folks have been writing about Our National Pastime:

Bob Nightengale, USA Today: 鈥淐hicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet, who had struggled since the All-Star break (0-3, 8.78 ERA) until his last start Friday, is attracting plenty of interest from teams who are scouting him for a potential trade this winter. Crochet put on a show Friday, striking out nine batters in four innings, throwing 43 of his 55 pitches for strikes.聽 The White Sox still intend to trade Crochet in the offseason, and hope to also move center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who hit two homers on Friday after being in a 5-for-46 skid.鈥�

Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic: 鈥淚n addition to pure prospect deals, the White Sox also entertained offers in which they would have received lesser packages but gained salary relief. Outfielder聽Andrew Benintendi, owed the balance of his $16.5 million salary this season and a combined $47.5 million over the next three, is among those believed to be part of those discussions. Crochet, assuming he ends the season healthy, almost certainly will be in high demand again this winter. His earnings in arbitration the next two seasons, as projected by The Athletic鈥檚 Tim Britton, likely will be between $10 million and $15 million 鈥� an absurdly affordable price with the top starter on the free-agent market, Baltimore Orioles聽righty Corbin Burnes, likely to command offers in the $200 million range.鈥�

R.J. Anderson, : “The Chicago White Sox, already secure in their standing as one of the worst teams in modern Major League Baseball history, suffered another indignity on Saturday by recording the earliest mathematical elimination from postseason contention in either the wild-card or divisional era. (That is, to put an exact timeframe on it, since 1969.) The White Sox bested the previous record, which belonged to the 2018 Baltimore Orioles, by three days, according to former MLB Network researcher Jessica Brand. The White Sox clinched the achievement after dropping a 6-1 contest to the Houston Astros, dropping their seasonal record to 30-94. Whereas those 2018 Orioles finished the year with a 47-115 mark, these White Sox are on pace to lose 123 games. The modern record for the most losses in a single season is 120, established by the expansion New York Mets in 1962. No other team has lost as many as 120, and only four other clubs have dared to lose as many as 115 games.”

Russell A. Carleton, Baseball Prospectus: 鈥淎ccording to reports, MLB is considering the idea聽of mandating that starting pitchers throw six innings in an outing. As a new聽species of starters, ready to throw five innings but certainly not seven, has emerged and conquered baseball, there鈥檚 worry that the starting pitcher has lost the pre-eminence it once held in the game. It鈥檚 a change that happened suddenly and seemingly without warning . . . And so MLB seems interested in taking out a Sharpie and drawing that line back up to where it once had been. The proposal, per reports 鈥� which may very well have just been an idea tossed around in a conference room 鈥� would mandate that the starter throw 6 innings. Exceptions would be made if the starter had already thrown 100 pitches, given up four earned runs, or sustained an injury that would require a trip to the injured list. An actual trip to the IL would be mandated to guard against a pitcher gaming the system by saying 鈥榦uch, my leg!鈥� In theory, the end effect would be that teams would stop developing starting pitchers who would throw at max effort to each pitch聽and exit after 5 innings and instead focus on pitchers who would conserve energy, because they were going to need to pitch further into the game.鈥澛�

Will Leitch, : "Aaron Judge has a 277 OPS+ in the second half, an absolutely ridiculous number that would be the highest in the American League since World War II if it happened for a whole season. How do I know that? Because Judge’s full season OPS+ is 222, which would be the second highest in the AL since World War II. The best OPS+ since World War II was 233 in 1957, posted by Ted Williams, who certainly knew precisely when World War II was."

Russell Dorsey, Yahoo! Sports: 鈥�(Juan) Soto is going to finish the year in the top three in AL MVP voting, with his teammate Judge likely running away with the award. And when the dust settles and free agency has run its course, just how much will Soto have signed for? The fact that the slugger is represented by super-agent Scott Boras is a big factor in how this winter will go. Given that Soto is the Shohei Ohtani of Boras鈥� vast client roster, most in the industry believe the number will hover between $550 and $600 million. Don鈥檛 think for one second that having the largest contract in MLB history by present-day value won鈥檛 matter here, because it will. Accounting for deferrals, Ohtani鈥檚 $700 million deal is worth $460 million in present-day value. For Soto and Boras, $500 million is going to be the starting point, and when it鈥檚 all said and done, $575 million or even $600 million might not be out of the question.鈥�

Alden Gonzalez, : “Orioles starters Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells all have been lost for the season. The front office responded by acquiring Trevor Rogers from the Miami Marlins and Zach Eflin from the Tampa Bay Rays before the trade deadline, but a healthy Rodriguez following Corbin Burnes in October could be a game-changer. Rodriguez, who is 24 and was a 2018 first-round pick, was 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA and 130 strikeouts through 116⅔ innings in his second major league season. His status provides the Orioles with yet another incentive to surpass the division-rival New York Yankees, secure one of the two best records in the American League and earn a first-round bye. The more time they can give Rodriguez to rejoin their staff, the better.”

MEGAPHONE

鈥淚t seemed like a good idea at the time, but I realized the time commitment as it got closer. As much as I wanted it to work, I didn鈥檛 want to have any regrets on missing the stuff the boys are doing. I was trying to figure out what a good balance was of staying in the game and working, and having the freedom to watch and travel and help whatever they needed for baseball.聽 At the end of the day, the family was the most important.聽 I don鈥檛 know what the perfect fit it, but I don鈥檛 think there will ever be a day when I don鈥檛 watch them play baseball.鈥欌�櫬�

Former Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday, recounting to USA Today his decision to back out of the bench coach job in 最新杏吧原创.