Dodgers News: LA Veteran Joins Legend Fernando Valenzuela in Exclusive Club

Los Angeles Dodger icon, Fernando Valenzuela, is getting some company at the top of the history books.

The Dodgers coaching staff has been known to work wonders but no one imagined Andrew Heaney, the latest starter reclamation project, would be this good. While the journeyman lefty has spent a couple of stints on the IL it apparently hasn't hindered him too much since when he is available and "healthy", he’s been historic. Literally.

This year, through his first six starts, he owns a 0.64 ERA in 28 IP. Numbers comparable to the legendary Fernando Valenzuela's in 1981. 

Andrew Heaney has a 0.64 ERA in 6 starts in a @Dodgers uniform.

That's the lowest ERA by any pitcher over his first 6 starts with any MLB team (min. 25 IP) since Fernando Valenzuela had a 0.33 ERA over his first 6 starts with the Dodgers in 1981.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 7, 2022

It’s not often that one gets close to those stats and Heaney probably won’t be able to sustain his ridiculous 646 ERA+ moving forward, but it does show how good he’s been when not on the IL.

Last season, Heaney had an abysmal 2.01 HR/9 mark, but in 2022 the veteran has managed to keep the ball in the yard more often and brought that number down to 0.32 HR/9. His 3.6% home run-to-fly ball rate may be due to some regression to his career average of 15.4%. While his 0.64 ERA, and 2.33 FIP, points to some good luck in his first season with the Dodgers.

Dodgers BIG Injury Update, Clayton Kershaw, Blake Treinen, Dustin May, LA's Plan With Kershaw Out!

The Dodgers will likely have rookie Ryan Pepiot cover Clayton Kershaw’s starts while he recovers from a back injury he suffered during Thursday’s game. And, hopefully, Heaney can stay healthy and continue to contribute by logging quality innings since it looks like he will be key to the Dodgers pitching staff success in the road to October.