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Dodgers: 3 starting pitchers LAD could target after Clayton Kershaw injury

By Adam Weinrib

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 29: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks into the dugout prior to a game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 29, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 29: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers walks into the dugout prior to a game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 29, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JULY 07: Starting pitcher Sonny Gray #54 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the 1st inning of the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on July 07, 2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

1. Sonny Gray

Nope, not Kyle Hendricks!

Every Dodgers fan should be scoreboard watching to see how far the Cincinnati Reds sink, because we’re not sure anyone is really swarming Sonny Gray at this point, and it would be fun to be first in the water.

Gray recently returned from a groin strain (and missed the beginning of the season with a mid-back strain), but when he’s been available, he’s been the same Gray that every non-Yankees fan base he’s ever pitched for has loved to watch. His 2019 (aka the season he got out of the Bronx) was the stuff of legends; Gray dominated the central, whiffing 205 in 175.1 innings, earning a seventh-place Cy Young finish. He hasn’t been quite the same since (but who was in 2020?), posting ERAs of 3.70 and 3.19 in limited sample sizes since.

Now, the last time Gray was dealt midseason to a contender, he struggled to find his footing, though things were not as bad as angry Yankee fans would like you to believe. The wheels fell off in 2018 to the tune of a 4.90 ERA, but in 2017, Gray ended up with a 3.72 ERA and threw a five-inning, one-hit start against the Houston Astros in the ALCS. Not wonderful, not the unmitigated tragedy that the Bronx would have you believe.

Larry Rothschild’s in San Diego anyway, Sonny. He can’t hurt you.

There hasn’t been much Gray buzz whatsoever, and right now, the Reds sit firmly in the middle of the conversation at 45-41. Over the next few weeks, though, they’ll learn their destiny. On Thursday, they head to Milwaukee for four games, then welcome the Crew for three right after the break. Then it’s the Mets, then it’s the Cardinals. Big four-game road set followed by a crucial nine-game homestand.

At the end of that mess, the Dodgers might be ready to buzz their phones and get Sonny.

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