Mike Bolsinger threw 5 2/3 innings in his Dodgers debut and did not allow a run until his final pitch. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
DENVER — The Dodgers will not use Saturday’s rainout to skip their fifth starter’s turn in the rotation, in spite of the fact that they don’t have a fifth starter. Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Brett Anderson and Carlos Frias are the only starters on their 25-man roster at the moment.
Rather, Greinke will start on Monday and Frias will start Wednesday. The Dodgers will likely recall a pitcher from the minor leagues to pitch Tuesday against the Miami Marlins, and it will likely be Mike Bolsinger.
Bolsinger’s next turn in the Triple-A Oklahoma City rotation is Monday. Scott Baker might start tomorrow too; he was supposed to start Sunday but the game was rained out.
But Don Mattingly didn’t know about the rainout when he made his pregame comments Sunday at Coors Field. The manager implied he’d rather use his mystery fifth starter Tuesday because a Wednesday start would force the Dodgers to use the mystery pitcher on an extra two or more days’ rest.
“Who you’re going to use, if you don’t use him that day, then he’s on ridiculous rest and then he’s out of sync, so it’s a little different,” Mattingly said. “Then you put Frias on regular rest, instead of giving him an extra day.”
Since he is on the 40-man roster, Bolsinger has another big advantage over Baker, who was outrighted to Triple-A last week. Right-hander Zach Lee is scheduled to start for Oklahoma City on Wednesday, so the Dodgers would likely start Frias on Tuesday if they were planning to bring up Lee.
Joe Wieland, who started for the Dodgers on Wednesday in Milwaukee, can’t be recalled under MLB rules because he was optioned to Triple-A fewer than 10 days ago.
In his only major-league start with the Dodgers on April 23, Bolsinger allowed one run in 5 ⅔ innings. He took a shutout into the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants, but did not factor into the decision.
In four starts at Triple-A, Bolsinger has allowed only three runs. He has a 1.42 earned-run average and 28 strikeouts in 19 innings.
The Dodgers have rotated their fifth starter’s position among five different pitchers this season (Bolsinger, Baker, Wieland, Frias and David Huff) due to Hyun-Jin Ryu’s shoulder injury. Combined, they have a 4.97 ERA.