Padres @ Dodgers July 9, 2016: Brandon McCarthy makes second start

The Dodgers got even in the series with a 10-6 win on Friday night over the Padres. Today, Brandon McCarthy makes his second start of the season after a fantastic and encouraging first outing back from Tommy John surgery.

Padres
Dodgers
4:15 p.m. PT
Los Angeles
CF Jankowski 2B Utley
1B Myers SS Seager
RF Kemp 3B Turner
3B Solarte 1B Gonzalez
LF Upton RF Puig
2B Schimpf  C Grandal
C Norris LF  Kendrick
SS Ramirez CF Toles
P
Perdomo (R)
P
McCarthy (R)

McCarthy threw five shutout innings against the Rockies in which he struck out eight hitters. His velocity was back to where it was pre-injury (averaged 93.8 MPH on his fastball). He also had a strong 15.3 percent swinging strike rate on his 72 pitches. He won’t sustain that all season, but it was encouraging to see him missing so many bats.

Yasmani Grandal was the hero last night, as he went 5-for-5 with three home runs. He has been in a season-long slump, so here’s hoping this gets him going in the right direction. The Dodgers are going to need his power if Adrian Gonzalez‘s does not return.

Andrew Toles, who doubled on the first pitch he saw in the majors, gets a second consecutive start in center field tonight. Trayce Thompson has been slumping mightily in the last five weeks, so getting him some extra time to clear his head isn’t a bad thing. Plus, it’ll be nice, again, to see what Toles can do.

Onto some news…

I just … I don’t know. I had a feeling this is how the Dodgers were going to handle the Julio Urias situation after his demotion. I’d much rather see him start, exhaust his innings limit and just be done with the 2016 season. Oh well.

If anyone is going to get over this injury quicker than expected, it’s Clayton Kershaw. But there’s still no reason for him to rush back.

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About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.