Daily Dodger in Review: Injuries rush Matt Magill into rotation

MATT MAGILL, 24, starting pitcher

Final 2013 stats: 0-2, 6.51 ERA, 1.99 WHIP, 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, .257 opponents batting average in 27 2/3 innings (six starts).

Contract status: Under team control.

The good: Pitched well enough to win in two of his starts. After a rough pair of outings, went back to triple-A Albuquerque and recovered to go 6-2 with a 3.35 ERA.

The bad: Would usually get into trouble early. The first and second batters he faced in each inning hit .385 against him.

Battled with control, walking slightly more batters than innings pitched. Struggling in the Caribbean Winter League, going 0-3 with a 6.53 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in five starts.

What’s next: A return to Albuquerque and emergency starter status.

The take: The Dodgers had too many starting pitchers, remember? Anyway, they should have had too many.

They took eight veteran starting pitchers into spring training. When they broke camp, two were on the disabled list (Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly), and one week into the season, they traded Aaron Harang.

Then Zack Greinke had that little run-in with his shoulder and San Diego’s Carlos Quentin, Chris Capuano went on the DL, Billingsley came back and went off to elbow surgery, replacement Stephen Fife went on the DL with shoulder bursitis, and suddenly the Dodgers were down to their 10^th starter -- Magill.

All that by April 27.

There was no way anyone had imagined Magill would be thrown into such a situation so soon. A year earlier he had been the third or fourth best starter at double-A Chattanooga, so it was hardly fair.

And he struggled pretty much as you would expect. He had some nice moments, so hopefully the overall experience didn’t scar him. The Simi Valley product is still young, so he might yet develop into a back of the rotation starter.

If he’s back starting against next season, though, you know the Dodgers’ offseason plans did not go as expected. Which is at least something Magill will be more familiar with.