LOS ANGELES — The pitchers at the back of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation are jockeying for position.
If the Dodgers make a run in the postseason, they will likely need a fourth starter at some point behind their strong front three of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Roberto Hernandez seemed to stamp himself as the leading contender when he allowed just two runs on six hits in 12 innings over his first two starts after being acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. His main competition, veteran Dan Haren, was struggling at the time.
However, their positions have switched, and the door to the Dodgers’ potential playoff roster is wide open for Haren, who is 4-1 with a 2.04 ERA over his past six starts.
Hernandez, meanwhile, has struggled since that strong two-start debut. In four starts since then (including a 6-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday), he has allowed 17 runs in 18 1/3 innings with opposing batters hitting .324 against him.
Haren gets his next chance to make his case Wednesday against the Padres, but Dodgers manager Don Mattingly insists those thoughts are not in anyone’s mind at this point.
“No,” Mattingly said before Tuesday’s game. “We’re just looking at one guy trying to help us win a game and then the other guy trying to help us win a game. I keep it pretty simple. We need Roberto to pitch deep into the game and give us a chance to win, and Danny has been pretty much doing that lately.”
Rookie right-hander Carlos Frias could be a dark-horse option. He pitched six scoreless innings in his first major league start last week, and he has held batters to a .193 average in 22 1/3 innings since being promoted from Triple-A Albuquerque.
However, Mattingly already said he could use Frias in “hold” situations down the stretch and would not feel comfortable then asking him to make a start in the postseason without being stretched out to a starter’s workload.