Dodgers News: Brandon McCarthy Happy With Execution In Debut

Two of the biggest question marks for the Los Angeles Dodgers heading into 2015 were the bullpen and the backend of the starting rotation.

While the bullpen has had two good night and one not so good night, the other part of the doubts made the first of two debuts on Wednesday. Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson’s talent is undeniable, but their injury-prone pasts are the subject of debate. McCarthy made his first start of the season for the Dodgers and the results were somewhat mixed. He did strike out nine batters, but he also allowed nine hits and four runs in five innings. However, McCarthy sandwiched three scoreless innings between two innings of two runs.

According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, McCarthy was fine with his Dodger debut:

Closer,” McCarthy said when comparing the way he started the season with the way he pitched in Spring Training. “I made a mechanical adjustment and executed a little better. It wasn’t perfect, but better until the end.”

McCarthy was at 91 pitches after five innings, but remained in the game and promptly allowed a home run and consecutive doubles to end his night. After working six combined innings in the first two games, the bullpen could have used an extra inning of work by the right-handed starter.

Manager Don Mattingly had the same though and admitted that his starter was tired:

The bullpen was a really scary thing tonight,” manager Don Mattingly said, explaining that he was in “a little bit of a box” as he tried not to use Hatcher or Garcia.
“I tried to get a few extra pitches out of [McCarthy], and that inning he was probably out of gas,” he said.

The Dodgers will enjoy the day off on Thursday before Anderson makes his Dodger debut on Friday night in Arizona.

Dodgers 2015 – Yasmani Grandal Defends Dodgers Bullpen