Entering Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers are 61-41, sitting 8.5 games above the San Diego Padres for the NL West lead. Despite that, and a $218 million payroll, Los Angeles had struggled before embarking on their current five-game winning streak. What’s the biggest issue plaguing the Dodgers this season? Injuries, especially to their pitchers. It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that the Dodgers could win a hypothetical World Series with only their pitchers from the injured list.
Los Angeles opened the season with future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, All-Stars Walker Buehler and Tony Gonsolin, and former top prospects Emmitt Sheehan and Dustin May all on the shelf. Since then, the Dodgers have also lost time from elite free agency acquisition Yoshinobu Yamamoto and ace Tyler Glasnow. From the injured list alone, the Dodgers could rival any team in baseball for the best rotation.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Elite Pitching Rotation Sans Active Roster
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As of Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Dodgers have four healthy starting pitchers on the 26-man roster. With the DFA of James Paxton on Monday, Los Angeles relies on Gavin Stone, Justin Wrobleski, River Ryan, and Landon Knack. Stone is a borderline All-Star and former top prospect, while Ryan has cruised in the minors this season. However, Knack and Wrobleski are fringe Top-15 prospects in the Los Angeles farm system.
Nevertheless, the NL West club could craft a rotation rivaling the Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola-led Philadelphia Phillies with only their hurlers from the injured list. Sitting on the IL for Los Angeles are Walker Buehler, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Kershaw and Glasnow alone would form one of the best one-two punches in the MLB, with the former destined for the Hall of Fame, while the latter has pitched to a 3.14 ERA and 0.99 WHIP since 2019. Then slot in Gonsolin and Yamamoto behind Kershaw and Glasnow, and it quickly becomes an elite-level rotation.
Gonsolin is only two years removed from a 16-1 season while posting a 2.14 ERA. Meanwhile, Yamamoto, a former superstar in Japan, is 6-2 with a 2.92 ERA in 14 starts this season. Filling in for the final spot in this hypothetical injury-riddled rotation would be either May, Sheehan, or Buehler. May owns a 3.10 ERA in 191.2 big league innings, while Sheehan dominated the minors before his rookie season last year. Buehler is the obvious choice after going 31-8 with a 2.89 ERA from 2019 to 2021. However, constant injuries since 2022 have Buehler dealing with less-than-ideal production.
Glasnow and Kershaw Return This Weekend
The Los Angeles Dodgers will return two of their seven injured starting pitchers this week. According to manager Dave Roberts, Tyler Glasnow will start on Wednesday after landing on the injured list with a lower back injury earlier this month. Glasnow went 8-5 with a 3.47 ERA, a league-best 0.93 WHIP, and 11.8 strikeouts per nine in the first half. Meanwhile, Clayton Kershaw will make his season debut on Thursday. The lefty went 13-5 with a 2.46 ERA in 24 starts last season.
As for the other four injured starting pitchers, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, and Dustin May will miss the remainder of the season. However, after throwing a bullpen session on Monday, Buehler is eyeing an early August return. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is further out, with no clear timetable as of late July.
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