ATLANTA — Asked about the state of his rotation, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly tried not to be too pessimistic late Tuesday.
Before he could try to put out a positive spin, a dose of reality set in.
“You want me to put a word on it? Disarray, maybe?” Mattingly said.
In left-hander Clayton Kershaw and right-hander Zach Greinke, the Dodgers have the top one-two duo in baseball.
The rest of the rotation? Not so good.
Mattingly felt a lot better, though, Wednesday when right-hander Mike Bolsinger allowed just three hits and an unearned run over seven innings in a victory over the Atlanta Braves and good news came back on left-hander Brett Anderson.
An MRI confirmed that Anderson, who departed Tuesday’s loss in the third inning, just had inflammation and a not a more serious issue with his left Achilles tendon.
Still, the Dodgers are urgently trying to upgrade their rotation, with both right-hander Johnny Cueto and left-hander Cole Hamels as potential targets.
“I don’t know that we could ratchet up our search for starting pitching any more,” Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said.
The Dodgers have lost left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and right-hander Brandon McCarthy for the season, and right-hander Carlos Frias is also on the disabled list.
There is hope now that Anderson may be able to avoid the DL.
“I wouldn’t say 100 percent in the clear, but somewhat in the clear going forward to be sure,” he said said. “The sheath around my tendon is a little inflammed, but it was intact. Just one of those things going forward to watch and monitor.”
Anderson, who was shocked how much better he felt Wednesday morning than Tuesday night, will play catch on Thursday and then the Dodgers will know more about his status.
“If feel good, then I’ll throw my normal pen the next day and kind of go from there,” he said. “Hopefully I can continue on (a positive) path, and it was just kind of a fluke deal where it grabbed and bothered me, and I’m able to go out for the next (start).”