Lance Lynn’s turnaround has revitalized Dodgers’ pitching staff: ‘It’s what we needed’

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Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

LOS ANGELES — Not long ago, a season-ending injury to Tony Gonsolin might have sunk the Dodgers‘ volatile rotation.

The Dodgers entered the trade deadline with one of the five worst rotation ERAs in baseball, coming off a month of July in which their starters compiled their worst ERA in any month in the franchise’s Los Angeles history. Initially, it didn’t seem like the deadline would provide much of a reprieve.

Unable to entice Detroit‘s Eduardo Rodríguez to waive his no-trade clause, and unable to obtain the top-line starting pitchers they coveted, the Dodgers turned to low-risk bounce-back candidates and high-upside reclamation projects at the deadline to patch their deficiencies.

And it’s working.

Sparked by Lance Lynn, who entered August with the most earned runs and home runs allowed in the majors, a pitching revival has ensued in Los Angeles.

“When you get a chance to kind of have a regroup, and have a chance to win when you didn’t do what you expected to do most of the year, you give yourself a second chance in the season and you try to make the best of it,” Lynn told FOX Sports. “So far, it’s been good.”

The Dodgers were up 2.5 games on the Giants and 3.5 games on the Diamondbacks entering the deadline. Three weeks later, they hold the best record in the majors this month (19-3) and a 12-game lead in the National League West. They went from sporting the second-worst starters ERA in the majors in July (6.18) to the second-best this month (2.93).

Lynn is at the heart of the turnaround, allowing one earned run over his past three outings heading into Friday’s start at Boston.

“It’s what we needed,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Even after Gonsolin’s elbow injury, which appears likely to sideline the former All-Star for the rest of the season, the Dodgers’ rotation suddenly looks as stable as it has all year.

Clayton Kershaw is back after missing all of July with a shoulder injury. After a substandard first half, Julio Urías is looking more like the pitcher who had the lowest ERA in the National League last year. Rookie Bobby Miller overcame some midseason hurdles to find his form again and make a strong push to be part of the October mix, while fellow rookie Ryan Pepiot is healthy and contributing for the first time this year.

And after stumbling to a 6.47 ERA with the White Sox, Lynn looks rejuvenated by a change of scenery. Though he struggled through the first half, the 36-year-old still ranked in MLB‘s top 30 in innings pitched. At the very least, the Dodgers figured he could take down innings for a rotation struggling to go deep into games.

But he has done much more than that, looking like one of the most impactful midseason adds across the league. Lynn’s 1.44 ERA over four starts in Los Angeles is the best mark of any qualified pitcher who swapped teams at the deadline, a group that includes Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Jordan Montgomery and Michael Lorenzen, who tossed a no-hitter after his trade to Philadelphia.

“Right now, it’s just kind of hit the ground, do what you do,” Lynn said. “And we’ll kind of figure it out as we go.”

Have the Dodgers & Braves peaked too early?

There was some wonder, Roberts told FOX Sports, about how an influx of newcomers might shake up a particularly close-knit Dodgers clubhouse.

Any concerns were quickly squashed.

Ryan Yarbrough has consistently helped reset a Dodgers bullpen that logged the eighth-most innings in the sport during the season’s first half, producing a 2.35 ERA while going multiple innings every time out. His pristine piggyback work has earned him two wins and a save in his first four Dodgers appearances.

Amed Rosario and Kiké Hernández are providing the Dodgers defensive versatility and more options to combat lefties. Returning to Los Angeles for the first time since the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series run, Hernández immediately went to work cleaning up some mechanical flaws at the plate, and his OPS in 25 games with the Dodgers is more than 200 points higher than it was this year with the Red Sox. The deadline also marked a Dodgers reunion for Joe Kelly, who struck out half of the 12 batters he faced in three scoreless outings before going on the injured list with elbow inflammation.

“It can make sense on paper, but it’s still got to fit,” Roberts told FOX Sports. “I really think we nailed it as far as the skill set, the talent and also the personalities.”

Kiké Hernandez’s solo homer caps Dodgers’ victory over Guardians

But among the handful of additions, none have boosted their status quite like Lynn.

Despite a brutal first half, some encouraging underlying numbers — including the best whiff rate of his career — made him an intriguing rebound candidate.

“I was having success, in a weird way, of striking a lot of people out this year but also giving up a lot of runs,” Lynn said. “So it was a weird year for me. You just try to make sure you take the positives, figure out what doesn’t work for you, and make sure you don’t make those mistakes again.”

Lynn thought he had “a lot of good things going” with White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz in Chicago, but he was struggling to find a rhythm. He knew he was better than the results were demonstrating.

That made him open-minded to the Dodgers’ suggestions, one of which pertained to pitch usage. In his first start with his new team, Lynn gave the Dodgers their first seven-inning outing in more than a month. He upped the usage of his curveball and four-seamer — his 11 whiffs on the pitch were the most by any Dodger on their four-seamer in a game this season — with tremendous success.

“The good thing is Ethan and a couple of the pitching guys here know each other, so they were able to bounce a few things off each other when I came over and knew what we were working on and stuff like that,” Lynn said. “I was able to just keep adding on.”

Lynn expected to mix-and-match more from his expansive arsenal moving forward, but the trend has continued over a small sample. He’s still using everything in his repertoire, but he has cut down on his cutter, making it almost exclusively a weapon against lefties, while his sinker is now primarily an offering for righties.

The decision to refine his pitch mix made sense, considering Lynn has the seventh-most strikeouts on his four-seamer of any pitcher this year while opponents are hitting .188 against his curveball.

The Dodgers expected his unusually high home run rates to normalize. After surrendering three solo shots in his first start in Los Angeles, Lynn has allowed one homer over his past three appearances.

He is realizing the potential the Dodgers saw in him, revitalizing their rotation in the process.

“You come in, try to learn new things wherever you go,” the 12-year veteran said. “That’s how you evolve.”

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and MLB as a whole for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.