Dan Haren’s next start will be a week from Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. (Associated Press photo)
Dodgers starter Dan Haren also has eight wins.
There are other statistics that could be used to compare the two pitchers, but we won’t go into those because Don Mattingly didn’t go into those when asked about Haren’s struggles this afternoon.
Haren’s next turn in the rotation — originally scheduled for Wednesday against Atlanta — will be skipped. Instead, Haren’s next start will be a week from Saturday at Dodger Stadium against the Chicago Cubs.
Josh Beckett, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw will start against the Braves instead, all on regular rest.
After allowing five runs in five innings in his last start Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Haren said “it’s just really got away from me the last four times out. … Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong.”
In his last four games, all losses, Haren has a 9.47 ERA.
When Haren’s comments were brought to Mattingly’s attention Friday, he downplayed the existence of any possible issue.
“I think he feels good,” Mattingly said. “We looked at Pittsburgh. Their leading guy has eight wins. Danny’s got eight wins. I think he’s second on our team in innings. There are a lot of things that have gone really well for a guy that you would consider, maybe, your fifth starter.
“Look over there,” Mattingly continued. “How many wins does (Matt) Cain have? He’s a really good pitcher. Danny Haren’s done a pretty good job for us. We like to cut him up because he’s not Kershaw, he’s not Greinke and he’s not Ryu. For what we’ve asked of him, he’s done a pretty good job. That’s where I take exception — we tend to want to throw him aside. If this pace keeps going he’s going to have 14, 15 wins. And I don’t know what else you ask from the guy.”
In reality, if Haren were working on four straight shutouts — maybe even four straight quality starts — he would probably make his next start Wednesday.
But Mattingly said he’d been planning to skip Haren’s turn since before the All-Star break. “It was just something we didn’t want to talk to him about until after that last outing in Pittsburgh.”
