PT TOMORROW: NL West—The back end of LA's rotation

Los Angeles Dodgers

The spring training battle for the fifth spot in LA's rotation turned out to be moot as Clayton Kershaw (LHP, LA) is out with a back injury until at least May. That means both Paul Maholm (LHP, LA) and Josh Beckett (RHP, LA), who were supposed to fight for one rotation spot, are each getting a shot in the early going. Beckett, who recently made his debut on April 9 (4 ER, 5/1 K/BB in 4 IP vs. DET), has been recovering from thoracic outlet surgery this offseason. He made only eight starts in 2013 and went 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA. He's far from the pitcher he was in the triple-digit BPV heyday of 2007-09, but he still owns reasonable skills that should merit NL-only consideration.

Maholm is off to a poor start this season...

Almost!

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