Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy hopes to get back on track as trade deadline looms
Brandon McCarthy walked through the Dodgers dugout Tuesday afternoon and called out to outfielder Trayce Thompson. McCarthy was headed for a bullpen session, his second in a three-day span as he tried to correct the defects in his delivery. He wanted Thompson to serve as a simulated hitter.
“Are you going right now?” Thompson said.
“I’m going to play catch, then I’m going to do it,” McCarthy said.
Thompson nodded and agreed to help. At this point in the Dodgers season, with the team rolling toward October, winners of 11 games in a row after a 9-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, McCarthy may be the most crucial player to watch before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline. He returns to the mound Thursday against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium.
How McCarthy (6-3) performs in the next two weeks will not alone determine whether the Dodgers pick up another starting pitcher. The team could pounce if Texas makes Yu Darvish available or if Toronto entertains serious offers for Marcus Stroman.
But a mechanically sound McCarthy figures to be as reliable as the other options on the market, like Detroit’s Justin Verlander or Oakland’s Sonny Gray. A version of McCarthy in disarray, the pitcher who has lost control of his cutter at times recently, might spur a more aggressive approach.
“I understand the reality of things,” McCarthy said. “I sometimes have to divorce myself from what I would think I would do if I was running a team. … But then, there’s the competitor side. … This is my spot. I want that until someone takes it from me.’”
In the second half, the Dodgers’ three primary challengers for the pennant have all made upgrades. The Chicago Cubs nabbed White Sox starter Jose Quintana. Washington upgraded its bullpen with Oakland relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson. On Tuesday, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired a top hitter in Detroit outfielder J.D. Martinez.
The Dodgers have stayed quiet while canvassing other clubs for deals. The team’s primary concern is finding an elite left-handed reliever, like Baltimore closer Zach Britton, San Diego All-Star Brad Hand or Detroit left-hander Justin Wilson. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi have been this week at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the White Sox, where the visited by owner Mark Walter.
“We’re very aware of what’s going on around baseball,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We still know we’re the best team. Our front-office guys are around a lot. I know they’re working tirelessly to try to make us better. If the right deal presents itself, I know we’ll act on it. And if it doesn’t, like I said before, we’re still expecting to win this division and win a championship.”
McCarthy has spent the last four days trying to realign his delivery. After a steady start to the season, with a 2.87 ERA in his first 12 outings, he has fallen into rockier territory in his last three appearances. He flung three wild pitches against Colorado on June 25, and spent 10 days on the disabled list afterward. His command short-circuited at times July 8 against Kansas City. In Miami on July 14, McCarthy could not hold a three-run lead.
McCarthy maintained that his current issue is not the same as his battle with “the yips” that occurred when he returned from elbow ligament-replacement surgery in 2016. He said his prior mental block “adds a layer of vulnerability to your psyche, that you didn’t have before,” but insisted that he could solve the problem through the repetition of throwing. He pointed to the resurgence of Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill as an encouraging example.
“It’s discomforting and heartening how close and how far away it feels at the same time,” McCarthy said. “I don’t think it’s a mental glitch. I think it’s mechanical right now. It’s just figuring out what the key is, getting that back.
“We watched it with Rich two months ago. Like ‘Oh, this isn’t going to be a thing. How can we count on this?’ And then, a month later, you’re going ‘That’s absolutely Rich Hill. That’s who you signed.’”
Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt monitored McCarthy throughout the last week. He suggested that the misplaced cutters stemmed from a disconnection between McCarthy’s upper half and his lower half. That disruption caused McCarthy to spray the baseball to the backstop.
McCarthy has overcome plenty, Honeycutt reminded. McCarthy dealt with a variety of shoulder injuries earlier in his career. In 2012, his skull was fractured by a line drive. After signing a four-year, $48-million deal with the Dodgers before 2015, he tore an elbow ligament and sat out most of the next two years.
“He’s become very mentally tough, to not go off the reservation totally when things are getting a little bit out of whack,” Honeycutt said. “He’s really persevered and handled everything extremely well.”
So McCarthy threw the two bullpen sessions in between starts. He tinkered in search of a reliable delivery. He tried to block out whatever doubt might creep through.
“It’s about remembering ‘Oh, no, you’ve been through 100 of these dips in your career,’” McCarthy said. “Go figure it out in the ‘pen. Get into a game. Have some things go your way. And, all of a sudden, you’re unbeatable again. It’s about putting those things in perspective and realizing I’ve just got to keep doing the work.”
Follow Andy McCullough on Twitter @McCulloughTimes
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