The past two seasons, injuries to starting pitchers have forced Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to get creative.
Bullpen games. Starters pitching fewer innings than ever to preserve their arms. Using the relief corps both widely and wisely. And Roberts’ teams still won back-to-back World Series.
Monday night, the Dodgers will send veteran left-hander Eric Lauer — a recent pickup — to the mound to face the Minnesota Twins in the first game of a three-game set in Minneapolis.
The Dodgers find themselves in the same pitching hole in 2026. Two marquee starters — right-hander Tyler Glasnow and two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, a left-hander — and a group of relievers are on the injured list.
The latest was reliever Blake Treinen, who went on the IL Saturday with elbow inflammation. Roberts said Treinen woke up Saturday feeling the ailment after serving as the winning pitcher Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
“He woke up Saturday, and his elbow was having a hard time, kind of extension, full extension,” Roberts said. “We tried to treat it (Saturday) to see kind of how we could go and kick the can a little bit. And it just wasn’t responding.”
The Dodgers acquired Lauer (2-5, 5.37 ERA) from the Toronto Blue Jays on May 17 for cash considerations. In four starts with the Dodgers, he is 1-0 with a 3.22 ERA. He has given up eight runs in 22 1/3 innings.
Two of his starts have been quality starts, and the Dodgers have won all four of the games he has pitched.
Against the Twins, Lauer has a 1-3 record and a 9.58 ERA in five career games (four starts). He has allowed eight home runs in 20 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers are embarking on a nine-game road trip after losing two of three to the Orioles over the weekend.
Following three games in Minneapolis, the National League West-leading Dodgers will return to California for three with the San Diego Padres and three against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif.
The Twins have won their past three series, including a sweep of the Texas Rangers, and have seven wins in their past nine games. Over the weekend, they took two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Twins have been scoring runs in bunches — but have also been giving them up in bulk, too. In those nine games, Minnesota outscored its opponents 70-47.
Minnesota defeated the Diamondbacks 16-8 on Saturday — the most runs scored by the Twins this season — with 20 hits.
“We just continued to put pressure on,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We didn’t hit a lot of balls hard to start it, and we found some holes, and then we just continued to build on it.
“Really proud of our group for doing that.”
With a staff ERA of 4.79, the Twins rank 27th in the majors. On Monday, they will ask right-hander Zebby Matthews (3-4, 4.78) to try to slow down the potent Dodgers offense, which leads all teams in batting average (.259) and is second in runs scored (405).
Matthews, in his third season, has not faced the Dodgers in his career.
In his outing last Tuesday against the Rangers, Matthews gave up two runs on eight hits and no walks with four strikeouts in a 12-2 win.
–Field Level Media
