Cody Snavely
It is no secret that the Dodgers are desperate for starting pitching with numerous injuries and a lot of inconsistencies, along with a rotation 3/5 taken up by rookie pitchers, the trade for Lance Lynn is something that the Dodgers needed to make.
However, too many fans looking at Lynn’s stats for the 2023 season could come as a head-scratcher as, statistically, Lynn has been one of the worst starters in baseball. Lynn, who has a 6.47 ERA, 1.462 WHIP, and a -1.3 WAR on the year, is not a name in previous years you’d hope the Dodgers landed, especially after LA just dumped their own disaster in Noah Syndergaard. What makes Lynn stand out, however, is his innings pitched at 119.2, which would put him over every Dodgers starter, and his career-high K/9, which is at 10.8. Here at DodgersBeat and the Bleed Los Podcast, we have stated LA only needs a few arms to help stop the bleeding and bring stability, and for the Dodgers, Lynn is the first step to that puzzle.
Yesterday before the series final against the Reds, Lynn was able to meet with the media, where he had this to say
“It’s a clean slate because you’re on a new team, but you don’t forget the last four months, either. There’s a lot of positives that you can take, and the negatives that I’ve had this year, I need to figure out how to make sure those don’t come back up.”
The Dodgers do not need Lynn to be an ace or have a sub-2 ERA, but they need a guy to help get the Dodgers pitching staff to October in one piece. With Kershaw due back from the IL in the next week and Buehler set to throw against live hitters in the coming days, the Dodgers rotation and bullpen will start to take shape in the final weeks of the season. The Dodgers also have a whole day to trade for one more starter, as they have already been heavily linked to Justin Verlander.
While Lance Lynn is not the headline-catching name that we fans want, I am excited to see what the Dodgers can do to help him perform better while also keeping his K/9 as high as it is as Joe Kelly said, we got a guy that will never quit, and that is precisely who the Dodgers need right now.
