Youth is served in another Los Angeles Dodgers' victory

PHOENIX >> If September Dave Roberts could time-travel and show February Dave Roberts some of the lineup cards he has been filling out, it might have given his younger self reason to worry what it meant that he was depending so much on rookies this late in the season.

“It probably would have,” the rookie manager said. “There were some games where you’d look at the lineups we’ve run out there in September and it kind of looks like a split-squad game, I think, if you look at it from the beginning of spring training.

“But these guys are major-league players playing on a playoff-contending team.”

In fact, three of them helped the Dodgers move a step closer to clinching that playoff spot with a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks Saturday night.

Rookie right-hander Brock Stewart went five innings for the victory, bailed out of trouble in the fourth inning by a key defensive play from left fielder Andrew Toles. Both of them started the season in Class-A.

And Corey Seager had two hits (including a triple) and scored twice. The presumptive National League Rookie of the Year has 181 hits this season and passed Steve Sax Saturday for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rookie record.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Seager said with his usual level-headed response to achievement. “But it’s one of those things you kind of put on the back burner until after the season. Right now, we’re still trying to win games and clinch here.”

They are very close to doing that. The San Francisco Giants blew another late lead Saturday night, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals and allowing the Dodgers to carve their magic number to clinch a fourth consecutive NL West title down to 10.

They have done it by starting rookie pitchers a major-league high 64 times this season. The next four teams on the list — the Oakland A’s, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers — are a combined 66 games under .500, strangers to playoff-race pressure.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have gone 38-26 in those rookie starts. As the games have become more important, the Dodgers have started rookies 24 times in their past 41 games. Those rookie starters have posted a 3.00 ERA in those starts. The Dodgers are 16-8 in that time when a rookie starts (9-8 with more seasoned starters).

“I don’t think there’s any of that tenure or totem pole in here,” said Joc Pederson, a savvy second-year player who crushed a 463-foot, two-run home run onto the walkway above the Chase Field pool in the fourth inning.

Advertisement

“We just want everyone to be comfortable here because when you’re comfortable you can perform better and help the team win games and that’s what it’s all about.”

Stewart did his part Saturday. He allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, Jean Segura, and another solo home run to Welington Castillo in the fourth inning. But Toles made a strong throw from left field to nail Yasmany Tomas trying to score from second on a single to left, cutting off what could have been a damaging inning for Stewart.

“That’s outrageous,” the 22-year-old Seager said when reminded Stewart and Toles began the year in Class-A.

“I would have told you you’re crazy or something like that,” Stewart said to another time-travel scenario that would have informed him in April when he started for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga that he would finish the season pitching in a major-league pennant race.

“But I’m just looking forward. I’m not looking back. I realize I started there. But I just keep looking forward and focusing on each next pitch, next start.”

After Toles’ big throw, the Diamondbacks were beaten. They went 2 for 17 with 11 strikeouts against Stewart and five Dodgers relievers over the last five innings.

“You look at February and look at our roster and project and obviously this is not how we would have seen it playing out,” Roberts said of the reliance on young players. Rookie pitchers have now thrown 386 1/3 innings for the Dodgers this season, 29.1 percent of their total.

“But I think the common factor with these young players is just the pulse, the head. They just don’t scare off. I think you can look at a half-dozen, a dozen of these players that have come in and made an impact. They’re really unshaken. We’ve put them in some tough spots. But they carry themselves like they’ve been around a long time.”