Dodgers Dugout: There’s suddenly a big hole in the rotation

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Congratulations! You have the same number of hits as Trayce Thompson since April 17 (0 for 31).

—It was nice to see James Outman break out of his slump. Max Muncy too.

—The Dodgers announced that Dustin May, who left Wednesday’s start after one inning, has a flexor pronator strain in his right elbow. That’s the same elbow he had Tommy John surgery on in 2021. It will be an IL stint and the timetable for return is unknown. A flexor pronator strain is ... well, click here and read for yourself.

—It looks as if May will be out around six weeks. He will be put on the 15-day IL and replaced on the roster by Justin Bruihl, Dave Roberts said after Wednesday’s game.

—This leaves a big hole in the rotation. The Dodgers probably will turn to Gavin Stone, but he didn’t exactly earn rave reviews in his first start (four innings, eight hits, four runs). But Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot are injured, and the Dodgers are treating Bobby Miller with kid gloves (because that worked so well with May and Tony Gonsolin). Stone has the best ERA of any of their starters at triple-A Oklahoma City. They may go with Dylan Covey, who pitched pretty well after replacing May, giving up only two solo homers in four innings before running out of gas.

—I haven’t been able to listen to a game on radio yet this year. Is Charley Steiner still mispronouncing Julio Urías’ name?

—The Dodgers are hitting .196 against left-handers this year, the worst in the NL. The bottom five:

Dodgers, .196
Milwaukee, .218
Colorado, .239
Philadelphia, .239
San Francisco, .241

—The Dodgers are 19-5 in games Will Smith starts, 9-11 when he doesn’t start.

—One way to look at a problem a team is having is by comparing Wins Above Average at each position. WAA compiles all of a player’s contributions at the plate, on the mound and in the field, and distills them into a number. That number tells us how many wins better that player is than an average player at that position. So if your WAA is 0.0, you are basically an average player. Let’s see where the Dodgers rank at each position, along with the top five in the NL and the worst.

Starting pitching
1. Dodgers, 2.8
2. Atlanta, 2.7
3. San Francisco, 2.4
4. Chicago, 1.1
5. Washington, 1.0
15. New York, -2.2

Relief pitching
1. Cincinnati, 2.5
2. Pittsburgh, 0.9
3. Dodgers, 0.8
4. Colorado, 0.4
5. Miami, 0.3
15. San Francisco, -1.8

Catcher
1. Arizona, 0.9
2. Milwaukee, 0.8
3. Colorado, 0.8
4. Philadelphia, 0.8
5. Atlanta, 0.7
6. Dodgers, 0.4
15. Miami, -1.1

The Dodgers’ number at catcher is dragged down because Austin Barnes and Austin Wynns have combined for almost as many plate appearances at catcher as Smith.

First base
1. St. Louis, 1.1
2. Dodgers, 0.9
3. Arizona, 0.7
4. Atlanta, 0.6
5. San Francisco, 0.6
15. Cincinnati, -1.0

Second base
1. Chicago, 1.1
2. Arizona, 0.9
3. Miami, 0.9
4. Atlanta, 0.6
5. San Diego, 0.5
13. Dodgers, 0.0
15. Colorado, -0.7

Third base
1. Dodgers, 0.6
2. St. Louis, 0.4
3. Washington, 0.3
4. Arizona, 0.3
5. Pittsburgh, 0.3
15. Miami, -1.6

Shortstop
1. Chicago, 1.4
2. San Diego, 1.1
3. Arizona, 1.0
4. St. Louis, 0.8
5. New York, 0.9
13. Dodgers, -0.3
15. Cincinnati, -1.3

Left field
1. Arizona, 1.0
2. San Diego, 0.7
3. Milwaukee, 0.5
4. Chicago, 0.4
5. Pittsburgh, 0.2
12. Dodgers, -0.5
15. Colorado, -0.9

Center field
1. Chicago, 1.2
2. Philadelphia, 0.8
3. Milwaukee, 0.6
4. New York, 0.5
5. Cincinnati, 0.3
7. Dodgers, 0.1
15. Miami, -0.5

Right field
1. Atlanta, 2.3
2. Dodgers, 0.7
3. San Diego, 0.6
4. Philadelphia, 0.6
5. Washington, 0.2
15. Cincinnati, -0.7

DH
1. St. Louis, 0.4
2. Arizona, 0.3
3. Pittsburgh, 0.0
4. San Francisco, -0.1
5. Dodgers, -0.2
15. Chicago, -0.8

It’s just a different way of looking things. One stat doesn’t reveal the whole story, this is just another tool in the chest we can use to evaluate things.

—Smith is hitting .342 as a catcher and .235 as a DH. Mookie Betts is hitting .200 as a right fielder, .333 as a shortstop and .310 as a second baseman.

—Barnes has caught seven of Clayton Kershaw’s nine starts. People often ask me if Kershaw is really that much better when Barnes is behind the plate. Let’s take a look at Kershaw’s lifetime ERA with catchers who have caught him for at least 50 innings.

A.J. Ellis, 1.97 ERA (829 IP)
Rod Barajas, 2.08 (177.2)
Yasmani Grandal, 2.23 (402)
Brad Ausmus, 2.30 (54.2)
Austin Barnes, 2.71 (464.2)
Dioner Navarro, 2.77 (87.2)
Will Smith, 3.13 (149.1)
Russell Martin, 3.33 (362)

Keep in mind that Barnes and especially Ellis caught Kershaw when he was in his prime and winning multiple Cy Young Awards.

This season, Kershaw has a 1.88 ERA with Barnes (43 IP) and 5.06 with Smith (10.2). Last season it was 2.22 with Smith (47 IP) and 2.38 with Barnes (79.1).

Book giveaway

All the entries are in. I received well over 3,000, so thank you all very much for your interest. The best newsletter readers ever. This weekend, the emails will be assigned a number from 1 to 3,816, with the numbers assigned in the order the emails came in. I will then use an online random number generator and match the number to the email. Those 10 people will be contacted so I can get their address and exact inscription request. So you have a one-in-381.6 chance to win. Good luck!

Injury report

15-day IL

RHP Michael Grove (groin). He is throwing to hitters at the Arizona training facility. Next stop would be a rehab assignment.

RHP Dustin May (right elbow).

60-day IL

RHP Walker Buehler (Tommy John surgery). It’s possible he returns at the end of this season but 2024 is more likely.

RHP J.P. Feyereisen (right shoulder surgery). Signed in the offseason, he had surgery in December and the earliest he will play is August.

RHP Daniel Hudson (right knee). Hudson has soreness in his right knee but could be back in June.

SS Gavin Lux (right knee). Lux is out for the season after undergoing ACL surgery in March.

RHP Jimmy Nelson (right elbow inflammation). He made one appearance over a week ago at triple-A Oklahoma City and hasn’t pitched since. Not a good sign.

RHP Ryan Pepiot (left oblique strain). Pepiot has finally started to throw, but is not ready for a rehab assignment yet.

RHP Alex Reyes (right shoulder). Signed before the season, Reyes won’t join the team until after the All-Star break.

RHP Blake Treinen (right shoulder). Treinen had surgery in the offseason and if he returns this year, it probably won’t be until September.

What Vin Scully meant to me

Last season after Vin Scully died, I asked readers to send in what he meant to them. I ran them the rest of the season and wanted to circle back and run the rest, which will take a few weeks at least. If you wish to contribute (if you sent it to me last season, I still have it, so no need to send again), please email it to houston.mitchell@latimes.com and put Vin Scully in the subject line.

From Gabby Hyman: In my childhood, my parents and I celebrated the three-game televised series in Candlestick Park in the mid-1960s by taking out the TV tables to sit and watch Vinny do the games in black and white. In 1974, my pal from college had covered sports for the L.A. Times for many years. He got me a field pass for Candlestick on a windy day to watch batting practice. So I hung my Minolta SRT 101 around my neck with a standard lens.

Imagine. On the field with Walt Alston and the eventual legendary infield of Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey. None of them mentioned the camera so I had fun at the batter’s box, yakking with Garvey.

Then I caught the elevator to the press-box level. There in the car was Vinny himself. He wore strong aftershave and a windbreaker over a sport coat. Vinny made brief but friendly remarks. He pointed at the Minolta and said it was the same model that his wife uses for snapshots. He said, “Can you get good action shots with that 50-millimeter lens?”

I was stunned and stood there until Vinny smiled and put out his hand.

From Victor Sze: Like countless other kids growing up in L.A., Vin Scully’s voice was the sound of my summer evenings, and I’d regularly fall asleep to his stories, which all had a calming effect. But one of my favorite memories of Vin comes from maybe the darkest hour in Dodgers history, when they were put into bankruptcy by a villainous owner. That night, Vin came on the air with his usual upbeat greeting, and noted that the Dodgers had declared bankruptcy that day. Then he said, “with that out of the way . . . “ and went straight into setting up the game, the pitching matchup, lineups, and so on. In that moment of anguish for Dodgers faithful, it was perfect — as if he was telling us that baseball goes on, all will be well. And he was right.

From Mike Margy: I’ve been to all but two Dodgers home openers since I was 15 years old in 1981, but the Vin Scully opening day tribute a few years ago was the only one where I actually cried. I began taking my two sons to opening day several years ago, and when the Vin Scully pregame tribute that year had finished, my youngest son turned to me and said, “Dad, I thought you’d be crying.” It all started for me as it did with any other young L.A. native in the ‘70s, listening to Vin on my transistor radio well after bedtime. One of my fondest memories of Vin Scully didn’t really involve me at all. My mom met him in the grocery store one time and told him that I wanted his job some day. He graciously told her that I should keep it up and that I might someday be able to do that. Talk about humility.

Up next

Thursday: Dodgers (*Julio Urías, 5-3, 3.61 ERA) at St. Louis (Adam Wainwright, 0-0, 7.20 ERA), 4:45 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Friday: Dodgers (Tony Gonsolin, 1-1, 1.42 ERA) at St. Louis (*Steven Matz, 0-4, 5.62 ERA), 5:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Saturday: Dodgers (Noah Syndergaard, 1-3, 5.94 ERA) at St. Louis (Miles Mikolas, 2-1, 4.91 ERA), 4:15 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Sunday: Dodgers (*Clayton Kerahaw, 6-3, 2.52 ERA) at St. Louis (Jack Flaherty, 3-4, 5.24 ERA), 11:15 a.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

In case you missed it

Why the Dodgers are removing one group from taking part in their Pride Night

Walker Buehler aims to be back by September. Dave Roberts isn’t so sure

‘It’s hard to hit.’ How Dodgers rookie James Outman is dealing with an inevitable slump

A gondola to Dodger Stadium? ‘Repulsive,’ ‘something doesn’t add up,’ readers say

Dodger Stadium food guide: Twelve new items to tantalize your taste buds

And finally

Tommy Lasorda gives the ultimate pep talk. Watch and listen here.