St. Louis @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 10, 2009 ) LA Dodgers 5, St. Louis 1
Carlos Monasterios isn’t going anywhere.
As a Rule 5 draft pick, there was a chance that the Los Angeles Dodgers could have sent the right-hander back to his original team if they were not happy.
Consider the Dodgers thrilled as Monasterios has another start to prove he belongs - although Charlie Haeger returned to the roster following a stint on the disabled list.
There were some reports that Monasterios would head back to the bullpen upon the return of Haeger, who made five starts before a toe injury sidelined him.
Yet it is Monasterios who takes the mound on Monday when the St. Louis Cardinals visit for a three-game series.
Monasterios was selected by the New York Mets in December from Philadelphia as part of the Rule 5 draft. The Mets then sent him to the Dodgers for cash considerations in a deal worked out before the selection was made.
Many times those draft picks are sold back to the original team long before they get a chance to truly make an impact.
But this 23-year-old rookie kept succeeding effortlessly in spring training and the organization decided he would break camp as a reliever. Then he received a spot start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 1 and fared well.
Injuries then started hitting the rotation.
Monasterios, who never pitched in Double-A, was named a replacement starter and has made two turns in the rotation. He has worked 10 innings with two earned runs and seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
His last outing was his best as Monasterios (2-0, 1.87 ERA) threw five scoreless innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks even though he was lifted because of a blister on his pitching hand.
Opposing him will be Cardinals rookie P.J. Walters, who has made it through five innings only once in his three starts.
It might be a difficult matchup against the Dodgers, whose lineup tends to take a lot of pitches and make hurlers work for each and every out.
In two of his starts, Walters has gone just four innings and in his other the 25-year-old right-hander went five scoreless innings for the win. Overall, he is 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA.
The Cardinals are off to a good start in June despite falling to the Milwaukee Brewers in extra innings on Sunday. They have won five of seven games to retake the lead from the upstart Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central.
The Dodgers have been in better in June – winning eight of nine – to close within a half-game of the San Diego Padres in the NL West.