Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Kuroda Stiff; Skipping Start

Hiroki Kuroda added to the Dodgers' list of late-season maladies (see: Clayton Kershaw, shoulder injury from shagging fly balls; Casey Blake and Manny Ramirez, with strained hamstrings; Ronnie Belliard, strained groin.), with a stiff neck causing him to miss his next start, instead resting up for a potential Game 2 NLDS start:

SAN DIEGO -- Dodgers manager Joe Torre confirmed Wednesday that Clayton Kershaw will start Saturday's game against Colorado instead of Hiroki Kuroda, who will be skipped because of a stiff neck.

Torre said Kuroda felt the stiffness while running in the outfield at PETCO Park on Tuesday, and it was not a factor Monday, when Kuroda was battered for seven runs [three earned] on eight hits in four innings in Pittsburgh.

"It's a little better today, but there's no rush," said Torre. "We have to make sure it goes away. We'll know more by the weekend. We may have to create a simulated game for him. He'll have to throw a bullpen [session] before he does anything." [...]

Although Torre had not previously announced this weekend's probables beyond Randy Wolf for Friday night, he said Kuroda would have pitched Saturday, meaning Kuroda would have been moved ahead of Kershaw, who had been following Wolf.

That indicates Torre plans to have Wolf and Kuroda start Games 1 and 2 of the playoffs. His other two starters will come from a group of Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Jon Garland and Vicente Padilla.

It would have been nice to see Hiroki with one more start before the break, but hey, if he's got a stiffy, let's sit him. We're still clinching the West...eventually.

1 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

Whoa, hey, TMI.