Mike Salas
Now that Blake Snell has signed with the Dodgers, what does the starting line-up look like and what happens to those who are still around or unsigned?
The past few seasons, the Dodgers have had to deal with arm injuries in the regular season and during the playoffs. The 2024 season seen the Dodgers rely on kids in the minors and key signings after the All-Star break to help them win the World Series with a 3-man rotation.
Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior was recently on Dodgers Territory talking about a 6-man rotation. He was quoted
“It’s not be the easiest thing to do, you run into days off, guys sometimes getting 7 or 8 days off and you have to skip a guy” the biggest take away from his discussion with Clint Pastillas was “I think it’s do able, the biggest issue is do you have enough depth to do that, because if one guy goes down what is the cascading effect” “you’re going to run into a stretch where there is 15 to 18 games in a row and can you do a 6-man rotation all the way through that or do you need to spot and drop guys in”
So, the question is does the Dodgers have enough pitching now to do a 6-man rotation with the signing of Blake Snell? Let’s take a look at the rotation.
Right now, the Dodgers have Yoshinobu Yamamoto who is healthy and had a good post season run. Tyler Glasnow who is coming off the IL, can he last a 162-game regular season? Tony Gonsolin, look really good in his rehab starts with OKC, but will need build up during the offseason to get ready for spring training. Bobby Miller, dealt with knee discomfort and struggled with his command. Miller was sent down to the minors to figure things out but was left off the postseason roster. Blake Snell who is coming off one of his most productive seasons. Dustin May, who seems to have a black cloud over him has dealt with injuries every year since being called up.
The Dodgers have proven they have the depth in the minors to support a 6-man rotation with Ben Casparius, Nick Frasso, Jackson Ferris, and Justin Wrobleski. With social media losing their minds right now with the signing of Blake Snell, the Dodgers still need at least two more solid arms in this starting rotation.
If Walker Buehler resigns and Roki Sasaki is signed to a minor league deal, how will they fit into this rotation when Ohtani and Kershaw are ready to come back? Do the Dodgers trade Miller for a much-needed position player and does Dustin May get moved to a long reliever position? The Dodgers still have Emmet Sheehan coming back sometime before or after the all-star break, where does he fit in?
I guess you can call it a good problem to have, but the Dodgers front office still have a lot to figure out on where all the pieces of this puzzle fit in for the Dodgers to make another solid run at a World Series title in 2025.
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