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The Dodgers Rotation and Joe Wieland: It Could Be Worse

By Stacie Wheeler

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The Dodgers are wrapping up their Cactus League schedule with their final home game at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday and one final game versus the Royals on Wednesday. Tuesday they will begin to pack up and head back to So Cal to begin the Freeway Series on Friday. It has been a ramped up Spring for the Dodgers who showed unexpected offensive fireworks from the reworked roster.

Decisions are coming now, and Dustin McGowan and Mike Adams were reportedly cut from the team on Tuesday. The bullpen is still a work in progress, but we will soon know who will be a part of the relief corps come Sunday at the latest. While the bullpen configuration might still be decided upon right before Opening Day, the rotation is also a Opening Day question mark as well.

We already know that Clayton Kershaw will be starting on April 6th with Zack Greinke to follow on Tuesday. Most likely Brandon McCarthy will start on Wednesday, and a Brett Anderson start would open the Arizona series after the day off. The Dodgers will need an additional starter by the time they host the Mariners on the 13-15th. Joe Wieland, who is starting for the Dodgers on Tuesday, is vying for a possible spot start and some long-relief work out of the pen while Hyun-jin Ryu is out with shoulder inflammation.

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It could be worse. Ryu’s injury hopefully will not sideline the Dodgers’ No. 3 starter for long, and the Dodgers may only need Wieland to make one or two starts before Ryu is back on the mound. Wieland, Carlos Frias, Juan Nicasio, David Huff, David Aardsma are all in the running to provide long relief help out of the pen. We all remember the start Carlos Frias made in Colorado last year. Nicasio has been scuffling this Spring. Wieland’s solid Spring gives me confidence that he can provide adequate back of the rotation help in early April.

Red Patterson starts are not exactly fond memories from last season either. Of course I wouldn’t mind seeing Zach Lee get a shot to make his Dodger debut this season, but perhaps that will come later in the season. Right now, Joe Wieland is the best option the Dodgers have and not exactly a terrible one.

Wieland, the 25-year old right-hander, has a Spring ERA of 1.00 over 9 innings pitched (4 games). He has struck out 9 batters, and he has only allowed 1 earned run while walking 3. Wieland’s start on Tuesday will be very important (Wieland’s line Tuesday: 5 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 SO, 0 K) in terms of the decisions the Dodgers have to make when piecing together the bullpen to start the season off with.

Adrian wrote about Wieland as a former top prospect and how he could pan out to be more than just a throw in from the Matt Kemp deal with the Padres. Like Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson, Wieland has had his share of health issue including Tommy John surgery in 2013. He looks as though his elbow issue are behind him this Spring, and if he works out for the Dodgers at least as a temporary spot starter and perhaps a long-reliever when needed throughout the season, his value will be more than just another name attached to that controversial deal with San Diego.

The backend of the rotation still concerns me with McCarthy and Anderson’s injury histories, but the Dodgers have accumulated quite a few arms for depth allowing them options beyond Red Patterson or bullpen games. Of course bullpen games are inevitable with Don Mattingly at the helm.

Jamey Wright is available again. Just sayin’.

Winning with Wieland may be the Dodgers motto in April. I’m not panicking just yet, but then again Zack Greinke’s elbow, Ryu’s shoulder, McCarthy’s propensity to get hit with line drives (not his fault of course) and McCarthy’s laundry list of injuries may mean more than just a couple of Wieland starts.

As long as the Dodgers don’t start Carlos Frias at Coors Field, I think that a Wieland start or two won’t be the end of the world.

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