Dodgers @ Cardinals May 31, 2015: In Which We Jinx Brett Anderson

I’m not sure we’ve talked about Brett Anderson, who gets the start against Carlos Martinez and the Cardinals today, enough.

	Dodgers			Cardinals
	11:15 a.m.			St. Louis, Mo.
CF	Pederson		CF	Grichuk
3B	Callaspo		3B	Carpenter
1B	Gonzalez		LF	Holliday
2B	Kendrick		SS	Peralta
RF	Ethier		C	Molina
C	Grandal		1B	Reynolds
LF	Guerrero		RF	Heyward
SS	Rollins		2B	Kozma
P	Anderson (L)		P	Martinez (R)

For all the worry about Brandon McCarthy‘s injury history when he was signed, remember how Anderson’s innings-pitched numbers had gone:

2012: 35.0
2013: 44.2
2014: 44.1
2015: 49.1

That’s a four-year high for innings from Anderson, and considering that he only had 83.1 in 2011, he’s not all that far from setting a five-year high. Back in February, I said we should all be pretty thrilled if Anderson contributed even 80 innings, and he’s well on his way there — although reports of back stiffness his last time out are pretty scary. With McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu both out for the year, the rotation is pretty thin as it is, despite the welcome contributions of Carlos Frias and Mike Bolsinger. I’m not sure we’ve taken the time to realize how much more worrisome this all could have been had Anderson broken down, as well.

This doesn’t mean he won’t, of course. It’s still probably not realistic to expect him to last all season long. But he’s gotten off to a healthier start than I think anyone could have hoped for, and with a 3.47 / 3.25 ERA/FIP, the quality we all expected has been there. Now watch him get lit up and/or injured today. Sorry in advance.

* * *

Hey, Alberto Callaspo gets his first start! And Jimmy Rollins is down at eighth again. Now, shouldn’t Callaspo — who has been awful — be lower as well, perhaps with Andre Ethier hitting second against the righty? Possibly. Probably. Does it matter? Not really.

* * *

Hey, Paco Rodriguez is injured. Wonderful! Matt West, a player you do not know and should not know, has been recalled. He was acquired from Toronto earlier this month for “cash considerations.”

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