(Erin Hooley / Associated Press)
RH Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox, 29): A move to the Dodgers would be a homecoming for Giolito, a former Studio City Harvard-Westlake High star who was a first-round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2012. Giolito, who is making $10.4 million and will be a free agent this winter, has rebounded from an injury-plagued 2022 to go 6-6 with a 3.96 ERA in 20 starts, with 122 strikeouts and 39 walks in 116 innings. He was dominant in seven starts from June 6 to July 9, going 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 48 strikeouts and yielding a .595 OPS in 44 innings, before being rocked for eight runs and six hits, including three homers, in 3⅔ innings of Tuesday’s 11-10 loss to the Mets.
RH Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs, 32): What the 5-foot-7, 180-pounder lacks in physical stature he makes up for with stuff, a six-pitch repertoire led by a 91.5-mph sinking fastball, an 85-mph slurve and a 90-mph cut-fastball. Stroman is 10-7 with a 3.09 ERA in 21 starts and has given up just seven homers in 122⅓ innings. His .210 average and .586 OPS against are far below his career marks of .250 and .678. He rebounded from a shaky three-start stretch (0-2, 7.71 ERA) entering the All-Star break with a six-inning, one-run, three-hit effort in a 10-6 win over Boston last Saturday before giving up four earned runs in 3⅔ innings of Thursday night’s loss to St. Louis. Stroman is making $25 million and has a $21-million player option for 2024.
LH Eduardo Rodriguez (Detroit Tigers, 30): The Tigers are on the fringe of contention in the weak AL Central, so there is no guarantee Rodriguez will be moved, and a deal for him could be complicated by the 2023 opt-out clause he has in his five-year, $77-million contract, which runs through 2026. But there is no doubting Rodriguez’s stuff and track record. The fastball-cutter-changeup specialist missed all of June because of an index finger injury but is 6-5 with a 2.69 ERA in 14 starts, with 88 strikeouts and 18 walks in 83⅔ innings, and is yielding career lows in average (.207) and OPS (.579). He went 13-5 with a 3.82 ERA for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox in 2018.
LH Jordan Montgomery (St. Louis Cardinals, 30): The 6-6, 228-pounder is more middle-of-the-rotation workhorse than ace, but he would boost a Dodgers rotation that currently includes three rookies. Relying on a 93.5-mph sinking fastball, 84-mph changeup and 80.5-mph curve, Montgomery is 6-7 with a 3.14 ERA in 19 starts, striking out 101, walking 29 and giving up 10 homers in 109 innings. He has 11 quality starts (six innings or more, three earned runs or less), including his six-inning, one-run, six-hit effort in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Miami, and an above-average 46.3% ground-ball rate.
RH Kyle Hendricks (Chicago Cubs, 33): The former Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley High star missed the first two months of the season recovering from a shoulder tear but has been his usual crafty and consistent self since his late-May return, going 3-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 starts and holding batters to a .237 average and .653 OPS. Hendricks, in the final year of a four-year, $55.5-million contract that includes a $16-million option for 2024, won’t overpower anyone with his 87.6-mph fastballs and 80.4-mph changeups. But he has a knack for missing barrels, ranking in the 94th percentile for average exit velocity (85.7 mph), 90th in hard-hit rate (31.6%) and 90th in chase-rate (33.1%).
Worth a look: RH Lance Lynn (White Sox), RH Michael Lorenzen (Tigers), RH Jack Flaherty (Cardinals), LH Patrick Corbin (Nationals), RH Mike Clevinger (White Sox), RH Paul Blackburn (Athletics), RH Kendall Gravemen (White Sox).