Monday, October 12, 2009

Kuroda-san to Kuroda-Sim Tuesday

Look out, Jon Garland (or Jeff Weaver): Hiroki Kuroda just might be back on the roster for the NLCS:

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda worked out at Dodger Stadium on Monday, and is scheduled to fly to Arizona to pitch in a simulated game Tuesday against instructional league hitters at the club's Camelback Ranch complex.

Kuroda has recovered from a herniated disk in his neck, which forced him to skip his final regular-season start and kept him off the roster for the National League Division Series against the Cardinals.

A successful simulated game might put him back in the mix for one of the Dodgers' four starting slots in the NL Championship Series, which starts Thursday at home against Philadelphia or Colorado.

Making this decision more difficult is the fact that Vicente Padilla pitched well in NLDS Game 3, just as Clayton Kershaw did in Game 2 (and even Jeff Weaver admirably performed in a pinch in Game 1). Garland and Chad Billingsley never got a chance to even show their stuff in the NLDS; it will be interesting to see if one of them might get the bump for the NLCS, in order to fit Hiro. If Kuroda does make it back on, that back had better be completely recuperated; on the other hand, after all the maladies from which Kuroda has recovered this year, he certainly deserves a chance if he's indeed ready.

3 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

It's great to have this quandry!

NicJ said...

Bye bye garland.

Fred's Brim said...

ugh that will be a tough decision!