Hunter

Dobbins

Dobbins is the second St. Louis starter to hit the shelf in the last 48 hours after they went nearly two years without losing a single member of their rotation to the injured list. He was lifted from Friday’s start against the Phillies in the fifth inning. The 26-year-old has posted a 3.67 ERA and 52/24 K/BB ratio across 54 innings at the highest level this season. It’s unclear how much time he’ll miss, but there’s a strong possibility his season is over with only five weeks remaining on the calendar.

Dobbins came out after throwing one pitch in the fifth. The Cardinals have been pretty healthy this year, but now they’re looking at losing two starters in 24 hours, with Andre Pallante just going on the IL. Quinn Mathews is replacing Pallante. Perhaps Brycen Mautz will get a look in Dobbins’ spot.

Dobbins allowed just two hits, and would have kept the Cubs off the board if not for a two-run homer by Pete Crow-Armstrong. The right-hander did have some command issues with four walks and just 54-of-96 pitches landing for strikes, but he worked around those free passes for a solid outing. Dobbins has been solid in his first season with the Cardinals, and now owns a 3.42 ERA in his 50 innings of work. He’ll face the Phillies on Friday.

Dobbins gave up four hits, walked three and struck out six. He fell to 2-3 with the loss. In the second inning, Dobbins fielded a chopper off the bat of Derek Hill and threw it down the right field line. The throwing error allowed Brandon Marsh to score on the play and Hill later scored on an Edmundo Sosa single. In the fifth inning, a throwing error by Jordan Walker led to another unearned run. Dobbins has a 3.40 ERA in nine appearances (six starts) this year. He’s lined up to face the Cubs on the road on Sunday.

Dobbins allowed just four hits in the contest, and he struck out four against three walks. Unfortunately, two of those hits were solo homers — including the first MLB home run for George Lombard Jr. — and the Cardinals gave Dobbins a literal zero in run support. Dobbins has basically alternated quality outings with less-than-spectacular outings as of late, and he’ll try and break that trend — and get some help from his teammates — when he faces the Phillies next week.

Dobbins returns to St. Louis’ pitching mix after spending a couple days back in the minors. The 26-year-old righty has looked sharp in a handful of recent appearances and will occupy a swingman-type role for the final two months of the season. There’s some streaming appeal when Dobbins gets the ball against weaker lineups, but he doesn’t offer stratospheric strikeout upside.

It’s perplexing why the Cardinals don’t just stick Dobbins in the rotation and leave him there. The 26-year-old allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings during a bulk relief outing on Monday after shutting out the Angels for six frames last week in a traditional start. The move allows St. Louis to bring up some relief help since Dobbins wouldn’t have been available to pitch again until later this week. He’ll probably return at some point after the trade deadline.

Dobbins did a little better than Liberatore, who allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings. The Cardinals aren’t off again until Aug. 6, so there’s a pretty good chance Dobbins will get a start next time through the rotation. He could get a full-time spot if the Cardinals move a starter prior to the deadline.

It sounds like the plan is for Dobbins, who was originally scheduled to start Tuesday’s game, to piggyback with Matthew Liberatore in this one. It’s a tough development fantasy-wise since it caps his potential volume upside. He struck out five over six shutout innings against the Angels last Wednesday.

It’s hard to imagine the Cardinals were expecting anything better than this as Dobbins scattered six hits and worked into the middle innings during his first big-league outing since July 7. The 26-year-old will stick around with St. Louis transitioning to a six-man rotation. He doesn’t offer stratospheric strikeout upside, but he’s probably going to be a viable option in deeper mixed leagues depending on matchups. He’ll square off against the Cubs on Tuesday in his next start.