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Inside Baseball
Rich with starting pitching in April, the Dodgers have been disarmed by injuries By Stephen Cannella
"Everyone laughed when this team said it was concerned about pitching depth," says interim general manager Dave Wallace. "We don't have to [acquire another pitcher], but we'd like to." Actually L.A., which at week's end was eight games over .500 and trailed first-place Arizona by 3 1/2 games in the NL West, should be thankful for the depth it did have. The Dodgers have propped up the rotation with the callow Prokopec, 23, and righty Eric Gagne, 25, who between them had made only 27 major league starts before this year, and veteran righthander Terry Adams, a 28-year-old converted reliever. Prokopec, who was 6-4 with a 3.96 ERA at week's end, has done the most to keep L.A. in contention. An Australian native who lives in Renmark, South Australia, he had planned to pitch for his country in the Sydney Olympics before the Dodgers called him up early last September. He went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in five appearances, including three starts, and figured if he pitched well at Triple A this year, he might get another call-up. Prokopec made an emergency start for the Dodgers in the season's first week, going 7 2/3 innings to get the decision in a 10-1 win over the Giants, but was then sent to Triple A. He was called up for good after Ashby went on the DL on April 18 and went 5-1 in his next seven starts. A sore muscle on his right side and a troublesome blister on his right middle finger limited his effectiveness in June and early July, and he hadn't won since that deadly strike on the bird. Last Saturday, though, he held the A's to three hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings of a game that L.A. won in 15 innings, and in his last five starts he had a 2.67 ERA and four no-decisions. Relying on the trio of Prokopec, Gagne and Adams in a pennant race is risky, which is why Wallace is looking to make a trade. The Dodgers are one of several teams to have shown interest in Rockies righthander Pedro Astacio, one of the few quality starters available. Besides, with the majors' third highest payroll entering the season -- $109 million, $41 million of which is eaten up by intended starters Brown, Dreifort, Ashby and All-Star righthander Chan Ho Park (8-6, 3.20) -- L.A. isn't sure it can afford to take on another expensive pitcher. "We have leeway to add some [to the payroll]," says Wallace, who adds that he may have to settle for a second-rate starter or bullpen help. "Some is the key word." Issue date: July 23, 2001
For more Inside Baseball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, July 18. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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