Gavin Stone Knows His Role for the Dodgers, And He's Excelling At It

Originally posted on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI | Last updated Jun 17, 2024 3:47 PM ET

Gavin Stone has been consistently solid in the starting rotation for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. He came through again on Friday against the Kansas City Royals at Dodger Stadium.

Stone retired the first eigh t of nine batters he faced until he gave up a single and a walk with one out in the fourth inning then made a big mistake. The next batter, Salvador Perez, sent out of the yard to give the Royals a 3-0 lead.

It was the only mistake Stone made all night, He only allowed one more hit after the homer, and after the game, he explained how he navigated through the Royals lineup.

Gavin Stone talks about his performance tonight and pitching into the 7th inning.

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"Two-seam was good today, changeup was good today," Stone said after the game.

Along with the velocity, Stone also changed eye-levels for the batter making it more difficult for the opponents to predict what pitch was coming next. The constant changing led Stone to complete seven innings for the fourth time in his past nine starts.

“I feel like that’s my job, more or less – to go deep in games, give us some length and let the bullpen come in and do their job in the later innings,” Stone said.

Stone is 7-2 with a 3.01 ERA across 13 starts and has improved greatly from last year when he went 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA across nine games (four starts) in 2023.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Dodgers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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