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LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers after Sunday’s rainout decided to skip Brandon McCarthy, instead using the opportunity to add an extra reliever for a few games. The Dodgers placed McCarthy on the 10-day disabled list on Monday with left shoulder soreness, and called up relief pitcher Adam Liberatore from Triple-A Oklahoma City before a three-game series against the Pirates.
McCarthy tweaked his non-throwing shoulder during a workout last week, and had his Saturday start pushed back a day to Sunday, flipping spots with Clayton Kershaw.
McCarthy dislocated the shoulder doing a ketel bell exercise last week. He said he did not feel affected while throwing.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) May 8, 2017
McCarthy said his left shoulder was dislocated in the weight lifting incident. He will try swinging a bat today.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 8, 2017
He said he was ready to start, but management decided to skip his start. Will throw a sim game.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) May 8, 2017
McCarthy last pitched on Apr. 29, but the move was made retroactive to May 5, so the earliest he could be activated from the DL is next Monday. Hyun-jin Ryu is eligible to return from the DL on Thursday, the day the Dodgers likely will next need a starter, after Alex Wood, Julio Urias, and Kenta Maeda start against the Pirates.
In five starts this season, McCarthy is 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA, with 25 strikeouts and nine walks in 29 innings. He has been the Dodgers’ second-best starter behind Kershaw this season, but is also coming off a season in which he threw just 40 major league innings after coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Manager Dave Roberts last week said the Dodgers will use every opportunity they can to rest their non-Kershaw starting pitchers, knowing that expecting a high innings total in 2017 isn’t realistic.
“With Alex, with Brandon, with Ryu, these guys if you look at the last couple of years, there’s been a small body of work,” Roberts said. “So to expect these guys to go out there and throw 200 innings, it’s not realistic. It’s not going to happen.”
McCarthy is the 15th Dodger to be placed on the disabled list in 2017.
Liberatore had a 0.93 ERA in eight relief appearances with Oklahoma City, with nine strikeouts and one walk in 9⅔ innings.
He last pitched on Thursday, throwing 23 pitches in two perfect innings, including one strikeout. Liberatore’s last two appearances have been two innings.
In an earlier stint this season with the Dodgers, Liberatore appeared in one game, allowing one run while recording one out against the Giants on Apr. 24.
Pittsburgh roster moves
The Pirates made roster moves before Monday’s game, recalling infielder Max Moroff from Triple-A Indianapolis. The switch-hitter starts at second base in the series opener. Pittsburgh also recalled infielder Chris Bostick, and optioned catcher Elias Diaz and infielder Phil Gosselin to Triple-A.