After a pretty humiliating weekend in which the Dodgers not only dropped two of three to the Cubs, but looked pretty lifeless in the process, one thing they knew needed to get better was their pitching. More specifically, the back ends of both their rotation and bullpen.
Today appeared to be the first step in making changes, as Chris Perez and his 5.03 ERA was placed on the 15-day DL with bone spurs in his right ankle. In his place will be right-handed Carlos Frias from Triple-A Albuquerque.
It's obvious the Dodgers have some pretty big pitching problems, so sitting Perez is a good start. Look, I am in no way celebrating someone getting hurt. As has happened many times in the past when someone struggling mysteriously has an injury that leads to a DL stint, we have to take their word for it that something is really wrong... even when we probably know the truth.
So out goes Perez, and in comes Frias. In the article that you can click above, it says he's made 20 starts between Double-a Chattanooga and Triple-A for a 10-5 record and 4.58 ERA. Keep in mind that any ERA at Albuquerque will be high since that's considered the Coors Field of the minors. Hitters will always have better numbers, and pitchers worse. That's just the way it is.
Don Mattingly has already stated that Frias will only start if something happens to Beckett or Haren, who are both slated for starts this week. So, it appears that Frias will be used in long relief, which is needed with Paul Maholm tearing his ACL. Maybe he'll eventually get a start, who knows.
I don't care who was brought up, this is a good move. Every time Perez takes the mound, there's a losing feeling that goes with it. Now the Dodgers can put in a fresh arm and let him show what he can do. At the very worst, he performs like Perez. Let's hope he can do better.
This is a decent start, but what I want to know is, what's next?
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