Dodgers shuffle starting rotation for first homestand

LOS ANGELES — Bobby Miller pitched scoreless baseball into the fifth inning in the Freeway Series opener on Sunday against the Angels at Dodger Stadium, in his final tuneup for the regular season. Miller’s next turn will come on Friday against the Cardinals, as the Dodgers shuffled the order of their starting rotation.

Miller swaps slots with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was shelled for five runs in only one inning against the Padres on March 21 in Seoul in his major league debut. Yamamoto will now start on Saturday against St. Louis.

Dave Roberts didn’t go into specifics of the switch, other than to say, “It’s just kind of setting things up with the schedule.”

The immediate schedule for the Dodgers is a seven-game homestand beginning Thursday, facing the Cardinals for four games this weekend before three games against the Giants before the next off day. Tyler Glasnow, who will start the home opener on Thursday, and Miller in the first two spots in the rotation would also be in line to start the final two games against San Francisco, on four days rest.

Moving Yamamoto to Saturday would give him five days of rest before his next start, presumably Friday, April 5 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. This of course comes with the caveat that pitching plans can change at a moment’s notice, so trying to plan too far ahead is a fool’s errand.

Yamamoto pitched roughly once a week in Japan, and there will be a transition to pitching on shorter rest in the majors eventually. But it hasn’t happened yet. In the truncated Cactus League schedule the Dodgers spread out Yamamoto’s three starts such that he pitched all on Wednesdays in Arizona. His start in South Korea came on seven days rest. Going from that to a start on four days rest so soon might have been a bit much, though it’s bound to happen eventually, even if only occasionally.

Miller struck out five and walked one in his 4⅔ innings on Sunday. His walk came in the second inning, when the Angels had their best chance against him with a leadoff double by Taylor Ward. But Miller struck out two in the frame.

It was an impressive spring training for Miller, who pitched in five exhibition games, including five innings against the Korean national team in Seoul on March 18. In all, Miller allowed seven runs (six earned) in 18 innings, with 15 strikeouts against only four walks. He didn’t make much of the slight change in pitching Friday instead of Saturday during the Cardinals series.

“It’s just another game,” Miller said Sunday of his Friday assignment. “You just gotta be ready to compete and dominate, not think too much of it, and just go out there and win.”

Notes

Roberts said before the game is for all active position players to play in all three exhibition games against the Angels. Not sure if that means both catchers Will Smith and Austin Barnes playing all three games, though both played on Sunday.

The Dodgers started their opening day lineup on Sunday, though it was much more like a spring training game with everyone out after three plate appearances. The lineup will look a little different against left-hander Reid Detmers starting for the Angels on Monday.

Up next

Dodger Stadium hosts one more Freeway Series game on Monday night (6:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, KCOP), with a pair of 2020 draftees on the mound. Gavin Stone, picked by the Dodgers that year in the fifth round, No. 159 overall, starts against former Angels first-rounder (10th overall) Detmers.