Clayton Kershaw may or may not start Game 4 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Whether or not he does might depend on how long Hyun-Jin Ryu remains in his start in Game 3 on Monday night.
It all comes down to Dan Haren. And why wouldn’t it? For all of the big-name, star players on the Los Angeles Dodgers and in their starting rotation, their plans for the NLDS very well might come down to Dan Haren.
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At issue is the question on everybody’s minds: will the Dodgers start Clayton Kershaw on short rest in Game 4 of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals? That depends on how Haren is used in this series.
As things stand now, Haren will either start Game 4 or serve as a long reliever in Game 3. That’s where Ryu comes into the equation: the Dodgers would potentially need to call on Haren out of the bullpen on Monday night if Hyun-jin Ryu‘s injured shoulder does not hold up and he has to exit the game early. According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times:
"Part of the reason for that is because Haren might have to be used as a long reliever Monday in Game 3 if starter Hyun-Jin Ryu is forced to make an early departure. Ryu hasn’t started a game in more than three weeks because of an irritated shoulder.“We have to be prepared for that,” Mattingly said.Mattingly was evasive about the status of Kershaw, who gave up eight runs in a Game 1 defeat."
Mattingly would not commit to any answers, leaving some fluidity as far as these plans are concerned. What will also be taken into account are the actual results of Game 3. If the Dodgers win and go up 2-1, and Ryu pitches enough innings for Mattingly to stay away from Haren, then there would be no need to use Kershaw in Game 4.
But if the Dodgers lose Game 3, can they really justify putting their season on the line with somebody other than Kershaw? That would be the unenviable question facing Mattingly if that situation came to be.
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