Before Saturday night's game against the Diamondbacks, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Chris Capuano will start Tuesday for the Dodgers against the Padres, in place of Zack Greinke.
Capuano has pitched two games in relief, including Thursday night directly following Greinke after he broke his left collarbone in a brawl against the Padres. In 2⅔ innings, Capuano allowed only two hits, a walk, and no runs, with four strikeouts. Capuano was 12-12 with a 3.72 ERA in 33 starts for the Dodgers in 2012.
Earlier Saturday Capuano threw a bullpen session, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, which puts him in line to start in Greinke's place. But Ted Lilly, who is currently on the disabled list, threw a bullpen session on Friday and is coming off a 90-pitch minor league rehab start on Wednesday with Triple-A Albuquerque, while Capuano hasn't pitched starters innings since a seven-inning minor league spring training game on Mar. 25.
But given that Capuano spent all spring training starting and building up arm strength, that was enough for Mattingly. More Gurnick:
Mattingly said Lilly is "moving in the right direction," but he gave a stronger endorsement when asked if Capuano wasn't a candidate to start.
"Why wouldn't he be?" Mattingly asked. "He was built up [in Spring Training] to be a starter. We're really trying to put a plan together to make us the best team."
Because of off days on Apr. 19 and Apr. 22, the Dodgers can shuffle their rotation if they so choose beginning with the series in Baltimore against the Orioles. If they wanted to, the Dodgers could alter the rotation such that they don't need to use a fifth starter again untul Apr. 27.