Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal gets a day off but there won’t be many more in his immediate future

A day after he hit a three-run home run and caught a shutout from Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, Yasmani Grandal received a day off from Manager Dave Roberts. The Dodgers started A.J. Ellis behind the plate with rookie pitcher Ross Stripling, to rest Grandal for a sizable workload coming up.

“I’m going to run him out there for about five days in a row after that,” Roberts said before the series opener against St. Louis.

That assignment would, presumably, include another start with Kershaw. Ellis had caught six of Kershaw’s seven starts before Thursday. Grandal was behind the plate during Kershaw’s lone defeat, when he allowed five runs in one inning to the Miami Marlins.

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But the Dodgers are not enamored with the idea of using Ellis as Kershaw’s personal catcher. Kershaw does not speak ill of Grandal, but he has never hidden his affinity for working with Ellis. In spring training, Roberts met with the group to inform them they would need to be flexible during the season.

Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis tags out Cardinals infielder Kolten Wong in a rundown during the second inning of a game on May 13 at Dodger Stadium.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Ellis caught 21 of Kershaw’s starts in 2015. Grandal caught the other two. Kershaw actually posted a lower earned-run average with Grandal (1.62) than with Ellis (2.44). The Dodgers believe Grandal is one of the best pitch framers in baseball, a contention backed up by advanced metrics.

Grandal, 27, also represents an offensive upgrade over Ellis, 35. Grandal entered Friday with an .821 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, which ranked fourth on the team. Ellis started the day with a .200 batting average and a .586 OPS.

With veterans like Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner not producing, members of the organization believe the team requires all the offense it can get, even on days when Kershaw starts.

De Leon still inactive

Jose De Leon, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, was not listed by the triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers in their next turn through the rotation. De Leon was given some time off to rest a sore right arm after he debuted with the team on May 3. De Leon spent the first month of the season at extended spring training due to his season-long innings restriction.

Follow Andy McCullough on Twitter @McCulloughTimes