Cody Snavely
Prior to yesterday’s opening game loss in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ crucial three-game series with their National League West division rival San Diego Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave some much-needed updates on the Dodgers’ pitching injuries as we inch closer to October.
The first move of the day was the arrival of top pitching prospect Edgardo Henriquez, who has risen from Single-A to Triple-A just this season and has a lively fastball that has topped out at 104mph.
Henriquez, 22, has posted a 2.72 ERA in fifty-three minor league innings this season, striking out eighty-eight batters and having a strikeout percentage of 40.3% across Single-A to Triple-A. However, one area that the righty has struggled with is his command, which is shown by his modest 1.23 WHIP. His fastball should play well in the backend of the Dodgers bullpen if given the opportunity.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone to the 60-day injured list and optioned rookie righty Ben Casparius. Casparius’s 2024 regular season is officially over unless he is recalled due to injury in the final five games.
Henriquez made his major league debut last night in the Dodgers’ 4-2 loss, pitching a scoreless 7th inning, allowing only one hit while striking out two Padres hitters.
Per the Major League Baseball rulebook, if the Dodgers want Henriquez on the postseason roster, they must submit a petition since the righty was not on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster before August 31st.
As for the loss of Gavin Stone, it is to be excepted after the rookie right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation after his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers planned to have Stone drop all baseball activities, including throwing, for ten calendar days, and if healthy, he would start his throwing program again. However, that day never came to pass, as on the Dodgers’ seven-game road trip, Stone never picked up a baseball.
The Dodgers lost arguably their two most dependable starters to season-ending injuries in the span of six weeks. The team also transferred righty Tyler Glasnow to the 60-day injured list due to a right elbow sprain. Both Glasnow and Stone led the Dodgers staff in innings pitched and starts and will be unavailable in October.
Veteran left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw is also unlikely to return during the regular season. With only five games left, the team is unwilling to have him make his first start in a month at Coors Field in Denver.
While Kershaw has continued his throwing program, even throwing an eighty-pitch bullpen in Miami, the Dodgers do not feel that he is physically ready to face hitters, which puts his postseason future in doubt.
“We’re in a holding pattern with Clayton,” manager Dave Roberts said before Tuesday night’s series opener against the San Diego Padres. “I don’t think there’s been improvement. I don’t see him facing hitters this week … and that is pretty telling in itself. Hopefully in the next few days, we’ll get a little bit more clarity on how he’s feeling.”
Kershaw, 36, has already missed the first four months of the 2024 regular season recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. When the lefty did return, he was a shell of himself, posting a 2-2 record with a 4.50 ERA in seven starts.
In a perfect world, Kershaw would be an afterthought to the Dodgers’ October pitching plan, but with the injuries to Glasnow, Stone, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto not being fully built up, the Dodgers would benefit from his return.
One arm that could return in October is right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin, who has missed the entire 2024 regular season rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery.
Gonsolin, 30, has been on a minor league rehab assignment over the last month. He has made three starts and posted a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings pitched, including three perfect innings and six strikeouts in his final rehab start.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated that Gonsolin will not return during the regular season but will face hitters on Friday when the team is in Colorado for its final three games.
Left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda, who has missed the last two weeks due to a hairline fracture in his hand, threw a bullpen session and stayed active in his throwing program at the team’s Arizona complex and is set to return either today or tomorrow.
The last pitching update involved two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who has thrown multiple bullpens over the previous month and is set to potentially face hitters before the end of the season and shut it down in October.
However, there is growing sentiment that Ohtani could potentially pitch in October amid the Dodgers struggles in the pitching department.
The Dodgers will meet with Shohei Ohtani and the training staff sometime soon to discuss his next steps. But according to Dave Roberts, they’re at a “fork in the road” about whether it’s best to rest him for next year or continue and eventually face hitters.
We should know by this weekend what the Dodgers plan is for Ohtani moving forward, but I say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Let him continue to be built up, and hey, who knows? Maybe by the World Series, he’ll be ready for a Hollywood ending.
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