Brandon McCarthy throws at Spring Training in February. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Alongside Yosuke Nakajima, McCarthy leaves his final 2015 start.
By Jon Weisman
Brandon McCarthy is starting Sunday for the Dodgers. Not the Oklahoma City Dodgers. Not another Dodgers farm team. The Los Angeles Dodgers.
McCarthy last pitched for the Dodgers on April 25, 2015, shortly before he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The expectation at the time was that he would be out until July 2016, and here we are.
Dave Roberts, who revealed the McCarthy news today, said there is no specific pitch limit on McCarthy, who turns 33 on July 7. In his fourth and most recent rehab start, McCarthy went five innings and 72 pitches for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. He’ll be on five days’ rest
“He’s a full go,” Roberts said. “We kind of sped it up a little bit because of the circumstances, but Brandon’s excited about getting back and being active, and we expect him to pitch well on Sunday.
“With the circumstance of what happened to Kersh in Pittsburgh, we figured we had some options. In talking to Brandon and figuring out where he’s at, with this trade, things kind of fell in line with his start date.”
Julio Urías, whose turn in the rotation was to come Sunday, will instead make an Independence Day start on five days’ rest.
