Brandon McCarthy will start for the Dodgers on Sunday

Manager Dave Roberts has spent so much time addressing so many rotation injuries that he said it felt strange to announce that a starting pitcher was actually returning from the disabled list.

Brandon McCarthy, out since undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery on April 30, 2015, will start in Dodger Stadium against the Rockies on Sunday.

“It is weird — it’s been quite some time,” Roberts said Friday. “It’s nice to talk about guys coming back. Hopefully, we get more of them.”

The Dodgers lost their ace this week when Clayton Kershaw, who was officially placed on the DL Friday, was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his lower back. The left-hander received an epidural injection Wednesday and was resting at home Friday.

“The training staff talked to him and said he’s feeling considerably better,” Roberts said. “What his timetable is to fully return, there’s still no clarity.”

The Dodgers also placed center fielder Joc Pederson on the DL because of a sprained right AC joint, suffered when Pederson slammed shoulder-first into the wall in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Pederson, who received a cortisone shot, was replaced on the roster by outfielder Will Venable, who was recalled from triple A.

But there was some rare good news for a team that has four other starters — Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brett Anderson, Alex Wood and Frankie Montas — on the DL. McCarthy, who threw 72 pitches in five innings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Monday, will return 14 months after Tommy John surgery.

“We kind of sped it up a little bit because of the circumstances, but Brandon’s excited about getting back, and we expect him to pitch well,” Roberts said. “He’s a full-go.”

As in no pitch limitations?

“I mean, obviously there are some limitations,” Roberts said, “but he’s confident he can go deep into a game and get as many outs as he can.”

Julio Urias will be pushed from Sunday to Monday against Baltimore. Kenta Maeda is expected to pitch Tuesday. Brock Stewart’s rotation status, Roberts said, “depends on how the next few days go.”

Ryu, out since 2014 because of shoulder surgery, could be activated soon. The left-hander thre six innings for Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night, giving up two runs and five hits.

“I think everyone feels we’re just using that word ‘depth’ as a standard line,” Roberts said, “but without it, I don’t know where we’d be.”

Trade offs

Dian Toscano, the Cuban outfielder acquired in the Bud Norris trade, has been a bust since signing a four-year, $6-million deal with Atlanta in 2015. In 58 games at double-A Mississippi this season, Toscano, 27, hit .226 with a .581 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, no homers and 10 RBIs.

“We didn’t see a bright future for the Braves with him,” Atlanta General Manager John Coppolella told Braves reporters.

Phil Pfeifer, the 23-year-old left-hander sent from the Dodgers to the Braves, had a 2.67 earned-run average in 30 1/3 innings at Class-A Great Lakes (Mich.) and Rancho Cucamonga. The reliever was a third-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2015.

Caleb Dirks, the 23-year-old right-hander sent from the Dodgers to Atlanta, was a 15th-round pick of the Braves in 2014 who was traded to Los Angeles for international slot money last summer. He had a 1.44 ERA in 31 1/3 relief innings at double-A Tulsa.

Short hops

The Dodgers will salute the tri-most valuable players of their 1981 World Series-winning team — Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager — at the annual old-timers game Saturday at 5 p.m.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna