Back to the Bullpen
Dodgers to Use Park as Relief Pitcher During Second Half of Season
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Park Chan-ho has moved to the bullpen, becoming a relief pitcher and filling a role the Los Angeles Dodgers had planned for him when the Major League Baseball (MLB) team signed their former ace before the season.
The Dodgers called up prospect Clayton Kershaw from Double-A Jacksonville and started the 20-year-old southpaw against the Colorado Rockies Tuesday instead of Park, 35, who had been slated to start before the All-Star break.
The South Korean hurler appeared in 25 games, including five starts, in the first half of the season and posted a 4-2 record with a 2.63 ERA. In those five starts, he was much more impressive than his one win would indicate, compiling a 2.16 ERA, while Kershaw was 0-2 earlier in the year, and his ERA was 4.42.
Park, who was named the biggest surprise in the first half by the team, thanks to his unexpected solid pitching, will pitch as a setup man in the second half of the season for the Dodgers, who are one game behind the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League (NL) West, while Jonathan Broxton will close for Los Angeles.
The Dodgers also want Park to be a backup closer to help replace Japanese closer Takashi Saito, who suffered an elbow injury, which will sideline him for at least six weeks.
``Chan-ho may take a more prominent role,'' Dodgers manager Joe Torre said last week, when the boss put Park on the mound in the ninth inning against the Diamondbacks Friday.
Meanwhile, Kershaw was hit hard in his comeback Tuesday as he threw three innings and allowed five runs on 10 hits.