The Los Angeles Dodgers sit atop the NL West standings with a 56-41 record and a seven-game cushion at the All-Star break, which is impressive considering all the injuries they have juggled during the first half of the season. Shoring up the starting rotation will be the club's top trade deadline priority with Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler all starting the second half on the injured list alongside a laundry list of pitchers that have been there all year. Even with Clayton Kershaw moving closer to returning, the Dodgers still need at least one veteran starter who can eat up innings and help take some pressure off a taxed rotation.
Ahead we've highlighted two pitchers they should target and one they should avoid as a quick overview of how they might approach this year's trade deadline. Michael Lorenzen is the perfect target for the Dodgers thanks to his ability to fill a variety of roles on the staff. The 32-year-old spent the first seven seasons of his career pitching almost exclusively out of the bullpen for the Cincinnati Reds, but he has moved into a starting role since departing in free agency and he was an All-Star for the Detroit Tigers last year.
He signed a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers during the offseason and sports a 3.52 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 65 strikeouts in 92 innings over 16 starts, despite getting a late start to the season after waiting to sign until March 22.
He could plug a hole in the rotation for the time being before shifting in.
