Dodgers notes: Bobby Miller, Clayton Kershaw, Dodger Stadium fights

Bobby Miller had already earned his way into the Dodgers postseason pitching plans, but the recent depletion of the Dodgers rotation — from both poor performance and malfeasance — has elevated Miller’s role even higher.

As such, Dave Roberts is giving Miller more rope, with the rookie right-hander pitching into the seventh four times in his last six starts and completing seven innings in each of his last two times out. Miller was even allowed to face a lineup for the fourth time through on Saturday night for the first time. It didn’t go well, as he hung a slider for a two-run home run that spoiled an otherwise good start. But it’s part of the growth process for Miller.

From Fabian Ardaya on Saturday night in Washington DC, at The Athletic:

“It’s hard to simulate what he’s going to be going through,” Roberts said. “So as best we can do, if we’re not going to put him in harm’s way, then I think it’s a good thing. These are good experiences, opportunities for him to kind of see how he responds.”

Clayton Kershaw has been working on some issues with his delivery since Tuesday’s subpar start. Kershaw was going to start on Monday at Dodger Stadium, but that start has been pushed back to Friday instead.

Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register talked with pitching coach Mark Prior, who dealt with his own shoulder injuries during his playing days, about tweaking Kershaw’s timing, and other things:

“There’s some stuff in the delivery that hopefully will free him up to maximize and get his timing back,” the pitching coach said. “I think so much of it is a timing situation. I think that’s where you get into a situation where guys who’ve had – whether it’s elbow or shoulder or anything, in the middle of a season you’re trying to come back and you do things because you feel fine but you just don’t know subconsciously what you might have tweaked to get back to that point.

Scott Miller at the New York Times talked to several members of the Dodgers paternity ward, a list that included six players who have welcomed new babies this season. The group talked to Miller about sleep schedules, logistics, and even the team’s family road trip after the All-Star break to New York, Baltimore, and Arlington.

From Miller:

“It was beautiful,” Graterol said of the odyssey, which included a charter flight from Los Angeles to New York and a train ride from New York to Baltimore. “There were babies right behind me, next to me. Beautiful.”

That list will grow to seven on Monday, when Ryan Yarbrough goes on paternity leave to return to his wife in Florida after their daughter was born on Friday. From Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times from Sunday postgame, after Yarbrough pitched.

David Wharton, Nathan Fenno, and Phi Do at the Los Angeles Times dug deep into the data and interviewed people about Dodger Stadium’s reputation as a hotbed for fights in the stands.

“You basically have a city full of people in a small space for a number of hours,” Gil Fried, a venue security consultant told The Times. “When you include alcohol and rivalries and things like that, it can be a challenge.”