The biggest news out of the Dodger clubhouse Tuesday was that left-handed starter Rich Hill threw a bullpen Tuesday afternoon.
“He could do 30 pitches in an up-and-down session Friday or Saturday,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Hill, who has been on the disabled list since June 20 with a left forearm strain.
It’s an interesting footnote because Hill, who is 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA in 10 starts this season, was the topic of discussion a day before right-hander Kenta Maeda (8-8, 4.13 ERA in 26 appearances, 25 starts) faces the Padres in the rubber match of a three-game series at Petco Park in San Diego.
Maeda’s future in the Dodgers rotation has been a matter of discussion recently. Yes, his ERA is high. But hitters are batting a mere .209 against Maeda this season while his WHIP is a 1.11.
As for the Padres, manager Andy Green designated right-handed reliever Trey Wingenter (1-3, 4.60 ERA in 46 relief appearances) to make his first major league start — actually the first start of his 211-appearance professional career — Wednesday.
The 6-foot-7, 25-year-old Wingenter has also struggled recently, giving up 10 earned runs on 11 hits and seven walks over 10 innings in 11 appearances since the All-Star break.
Wingenter was credited with a victory against the Dodgers on July 6 when he retired all four hitters he faced at Dodger Stadium — giving him a 1-0 career record against the Dodgers with a 6.35 ERA in 5 2/3 innings over seven appearances. He has also served up two homers in those 5 2/3 innings.
Maeda will be making his fifth start against the Padres this season and 16th of his career.
Maeda has a 6-4 career record against the Padres with a 4.48 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP and a .229 opponents’ batting average. In 82 1/3 innings, he has given up 44 runs (41 earned) on 69 hits and 18 walks with 104 strikeouts.
In four previous starts against the Padres this season, Maeda is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA and a .183 OBA.
But Maeda’s future could be iffy as a starter. There are thoughts that he could be in the bullpen (again) come postseason play, although Roberts talks as though he is in Maeda’s corner.
“With Kenta, we use the word ‘conviction’ a lot on all of his pitches,” Roberts said recently after a shutout outing against Arizona. “You can see the awkward swings they were getting. Going into the postseason, we want the best guys making starts and guys we feel in the ‘pen that can be successful with matchups. We see Kenta as a starter. The job for him is to go out there and keep pitching and make our job more difficult.”
Maeda didn’t help his chance of holding onto a spot in the rotation with a six-game summer run, where he was 0-6 with a 5.26 ERA. After his performance against Arizona, Maeda gave up two earned runs on four hits over six innings against the Toronto Blue Jays last Thursday at Dodger Stadium.
