DENVER — The committee is in session again.
With Kenley Jansen back home in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are without a closer for this weekend’s the series in Colorado – just as they were for 13 days while Jansen was on the DL receiving treatment for an irregular heartbeat. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he will once again take a matchup-based approach to choosing a closer if needed this weekend and will not rely on one replacement for Jansen.
“To say who right now, I don’t know,” Roberts said before Friday’s game. “But in the seventh, eighth, ninth inning we have a handful of guys who I feel give us a good chance to match up against those guys.”
If the Dodgers need to close it out against the heart of the Rockies’ order, Kenta Maeda, Ryan Madson and Dylan Floro are the likeliest choices against right-handed hitters like D.J. LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado, Matt Holliday, Trevor Story and Ian Desmond. Against the bottom of the order (where lefty pinch-hitter Ryan McMahon would likely be used) and leadoff man Charlie Blackmon, left-handers Scott Alexander or Caleb Ferguson will likely be called upon.
That approach last time led to a different reliever taking the loss each night during a five-game losing streak. But Roberts said the current bullpen group is better equipped to handle Jansen’s short-term absence than it was a month ago.
“I do,” Roberts said. “Having Strip (Ross Stripling) available is one part of it. But also, the other part is these guys have done it and gone through it. It didn’t go well the first time without Kenley. But I’ll bet on these guys the second time around.”
Madson is the only one in the group with actual experience as a closer (he had 30-save seasons with the Phillies in 2011 and the A’s in 2016. But Madson has already pitched three times in a four-game span earlier this week – and hasn’t pitched particularly well since joining the Dodgers from the Washington Nationals (two runs allowed on four hits and three walks in 2-1/3 innings).
“Ryan certainly has experience,” Roberts said. “Do I trust that Ryan can handle that spot? Absolutely. He’s done it.
“We’re going to need him. In that spot? Yeah, it’s possible. But to say he’s going to close the next three games, I think that’s unfair to him. I just think it’s smart to leave it open to the situation when it presents itself.”
PITCHING CHANGE
Left-hander Rich Hill will start Sunday’s series finale at Coors Field instead of left-hander Alex Wood who will move back to the series in Cincinnati.
Roberts described the change as “matchup-driven.” Hill will be starting on regular rest. Wood will start on extra rest for the 20th time in 27 starts this season.
Neither Hill (0-2, 7.17 ERA) nor Wood (1-2, 9.75 ERA) has good history at Coors Field.
“This is obviously a hitter’s ballpark, but the swing-and-miss still plays here,” Roberts said. “Where the other ballpark (Cincinnati), to be able to put it on the ground – which Alex does – is a benefit.”
In two starts against the Reds at Great American Ballpark (one in 2015, one in 2017), Wood has allowed only two runs on eight hits in 13-2/3 innings.
LANDING STRIP
Stripling was activated from the DL before Friday’s game after being sidelined for four weeks with lower back discomfort – which flared up during the Dodgers’ trip to Colorado in early August.
The right-hander attributed the problem to a saggy mattress at the team hotel (a Ritz-Carlton) in Denver. He arrived Thursday to find hotel workers had flipped the mattress and he “slept like a baby.”
Stripling will be available in a multi-inning role out of the bullpen – but could make a spot start or two down the stretch.
Stripling said he was being considered for a start during the Dodgers’ series against the St. Louis Cardinals last month but went to the DL before those games. The Cardinals’ offense hits left-handers better than right-handers. The Dodgers play four games in St. Louis next week.
“Obviously, we’re a team that plays matchups and analytics and stuff,” Stripling said.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Walker Buehler, 6-4, 2.92 ERA) at Rockies (LHP Kyle Freeland, 13-7, 2.96 ERA), Saturday, 5:10 p.m., SportsNet LA (where available)
