Dodgers Dugout: Yu Darvish, Justin Verlander or Sonny Gray could be in Dodgers’ future, but should they be?

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, noticing that Cody Bellinger is hitting .295 and slugging .568 since the Home Run Derby.

Everything’s going to be OK, right?

The Dodgers haven’t lost since Clayton Kershaw hurt his back, so the sky hasn’t fallen yet. However, Yu Darvish gave up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings in Texas’ 22-10 loss to Miami on Wednesday, making some fans wonder if there’s anyone else out there to acquire but him.

Before looking at the other candidates, keep one thing in mind: Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi aren’t going to make a panicked move. They won’t acquire someone just to quell the fears of fans. The question surrounding a trade for a starter remains: How bad is Kershaw hurt, and how effective will he be when he comes back? The Dodgers say it is more of a muscular injury than last season, which was more of a disk injury, but the Dodgers aren’t exactly going to share a lot of information publicly right now because they wouldn’t want other teams to know if they are desperate for a starter.

The Dodgers played well without Kershaw last season, going 38-24. And if Kershaw is back for the playoffs, then they probably won’t want to trade a top prospect, especially for someone who is a free agent at the end of the season like Darvish.

The Dodgers have been down this road before. Fans clamored for them to trade for Cole Hamels a couple of seasons ago, but the Dodgers refused to give up Corey Seager for him. It turned out well. They could have traded Cody Bellinger for any number of pitchers before this season. Not doing so turned out well too. So there’s a good argument on both sides as to whether they should make a trade right now.

And if you tell the Dodgers that they still need a better No. 2 starter even if Kershaw comes back 100%, they will tell you that they had Zack Greinke for three years but went further into the playoffs last season when they didn’t have him.

So, let’s take a look at the two other starting pitchers most often mentioned for the Dodgers.

Justin Verlander, 34, RHP, Detroit: He has won a Cy Young Award and finished second last season, but is having a tough time this season, with a 4.50 ERA, a 4.22 FIP and a 1.444 WHIP. He is also owed $56 million over the next two seasons.

Sonny Gray, 27, RHP, Oakland: Gray was great his first three seasons, with a 2.88 ERA, a 3.36 FIP and a 1.134 WHIP. But since then he has been injury prone, going on the DL three times with various muscle strains, and has a 4.67 ERA, a 4.02 FIP and a 1.350 WHIP. He would be under club control through 2019, so that’s a plus, and in his last six starts he has a 1.37 ERA.

Verlander, Gray and Darvish have been the three main starters linked with the Dodgers in trade rumors. And the main sticking point remains whether or not the Dodgers are willing to give up Alex Verdugo in the deal. Times baseball columnist Bill Shaikin, who compares Verdugo to a Brett Butler type of player when he reaches the majors, has a deeper look at all this here.

Would I make a trade? Yes, mainly because I don’t see Verdugo as a game-changing player. Sometimes you have to trade a prospect to win the World Series, like the Cubs did last season when they acquired Aroldis Chapman. I have this strange feeling though that the Dodgers are going to sit tight and other teams will offer better packages for Darvish, Gray and Verlander.

For a look at other starting pitcher candidates on the market, go here.

The trade deadline is Monday at 1 p.m. PT.

Nice pace

The Dodgers are 71-31, which projects to a 113-49 record. That would be three short of the record for victories set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners. It also means that if the Dodgers play .500 ball the rest of the season (30-30), they would finish with a 101-61 record. Arizona would have to go 42-18 to catch them. Colorado would have to go 43-16, San Diego 56-4 and San Francisco would have to go 59-0 and hope somehow that two losses from earlier this season get forfeited to victories.

Comparison

The Dodgers are trying to win their fifth consecutive division title. Let’s take a look at this year’s record and how it compares to the same point in the last four seasons.

2017: 71-31, first place in NL West, 12 ½ games ahead of Arizona

2016: 57-45, second place, 2 1/2 games behind San Francisco

2015: 57-45, first place, half a game ahead of San Francisco

2014: 56-46, second place, 1 1/2 games behind San Francisco

2013: 54-48, first place, half a game ahead of Arizona

Ask Ross Porter

Karli Smith asks: Ross, I’ve been so excited when the Dodgers had two double-digit winning streaks this year. Is that unusual?

Ross: In this century, Karli, four teams have done it: 2011 Cardinals (10 and 11), 2013 Braves (10, 14), 2015 Blue Jays (11, 11), and the 2017 Dodgers (10, 11). The 1906 Cubs had three and the 1916 Giants had 26- and 17-game streaks. The Dodgers record for longest winning streak is 13 in both 1962 and 1965, the latter when Don Drysdale won four and Sandy Koufax three.

Bruce Figoten asks: Now that Cody Bellinger has hit for the cycle (home run, triple, double and single in the same game), how many have achieved the feat and is it more unlikely than pitching a no-hitter?

Ross: Bruce, there have been 310 cycles all-time, and Cody’s is the 269th in the modern era and fifth this season. The probability to hit for the cycle is 0.5 percent. The average is just over two cycles a year. There have been 10 Dodgers who completed the accomplishment, seven in Brooklyn, and Wes Parker (1970, 10 innings), Orlando Hudson (2009) and Bellinger. Ex-DodgersBabe Herman and Adrian Beltre each had three cycles. The Marlins are the only current club never to have one in their 24 years. There have been 296 no-hitters pitched, and 252 have come in the modern era.

James Krug asks: The hook slide was a devastating slide and is never used today. Why?

Ross: What did Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson and Maury Wills have in common? They loved to hook slide. Maury revolutionized baseball with his base stealing, swiping 104 bases in 1962 to win NL MVP honors. The hook slide was Wills’ favorite. Maury would go in low, and pull his body away from the possible tag, touch the corner of the bag and do it from both sides. James, another great base stealer for the Dodgers, Davey Lopes, says the hook slide is hard to do, and he never tried it. The head first slide is the most popular now.

Bruce Lawhead asks: Why is it, Ross, we don’t see runners stealing home anymore?

Ross: Ty Cobb stole home 54 times, eight one season, both records. Pete Reiser (1946) and Rod Carew (1969) swiped home successfully seven times. It has been nearly 60 years since anyone has done it twice in a game (Vic Power). Bruce, the main reason it’s not done more is because pitchers used to windup with a man at third base, but now they stretch. It takes a fast runner 2.5 seconds to get home, and off a stretch, a pitcher has it there in 1.5 to 1.8 seconds. Third basemen also play closer to the bag, and runners aren’t comfortable, thinking a right-handed batter may have missed the sign and is swinging. Nightmare!

Ross answers reader questions every week. Email me and I will pass your question on to him.

Next series

Friday, 7 p.m. PT, San Francisco (Matt Moore, 3-10, 5.82) at Dodgers (Alex Wood, 11-1, 2.17)

Saturday, 1 p.m. PT, San Francisco (Ty Blach, 6-6, 4.50) at Dodgers (Rich Hill, 7-4, 3.48)

Sunday, 5 p.m. PT, San Francisco (Johnny Cueto, 6-7, 4.59) at Dodgers (Hyun-jin Ryu, 3-6, 4.17)

Note: Pitchers are subject to change

And finally

Clayton Kershaw says he is hopeful he can make a few starts before the playoffs. Read all about it here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter:@latimeshouston.

Houston.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimeshouston