Steve Webb
Let’s face it. On paper, the Los Angeles Dodgers have by far the best collection of potential starters in all of baseball, maybe in the last 20 years. Whereas most teams are scraping the barrel to find a fourth or fifth arm in the rotation, the Dodgers have no fewer than seven potential starters. And most of these “Magnificent Seven” would be the ace of three-quarters of the staffs in the Bigs. Too many even to discuss in one article. Let’s look at the locks for the rotation today, and then next time, we’ll see who we like to fill out the rotation. Right now, we judge three pitchers as 100% guaranteed starters this season: Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and (of course) Trevor Bauer.
Clayton Kershaw (2020: 58.1 IP, 2.16 ERA, 61 K)
Of course, you can’t talk Dodger pitching in the last decade and not mention Clayton Kershaw. The shoe-in Hall-of-Famer has been the game’s most dominant lefthander, and has the Cy Young hardware to prove it. And, finally, last year he was able to shake that “playoff choker” label that had (unfairly in our opinion) hounded him during previous playoff runs.
Kershaw is in a walk year (aieegh!), so he’ll be sure to bring all he’s got to the diamond this season (he would have anyway, but now even more so). But he’s got to contend with Father Time as well this year. He’ll turn 33 before opening day, and the question is how much does he have left in the tank? We’re guessing if Dave Roberts makes sure he gets his rest, he ought to have another great year ahead of him.
Walker Buehler (2020: 36.2 IP, 3.44 ERA, 42 K)
If it hadn’t been for the postseason, Walker Buehler’s 2020 would probably have been a bit of a disappointment for him. With only eight mostly short starts in a year that saww a couple of stints on the IL, Buehler went into the playoffs with a nasty blister on the finger of his pitching hand. It was anybody’s guess what, if anything, the Dodgers would be able to wring out of the Vandy grad in October.
But to say the least, he did okay. In five postseason games, Buetane was incredible, posting a 1.80 ERA over five starts. This included perhaps the key moment of the entire playoff run, when he battled back from a bases-loaded-nobody-out-Dodgers-on-the-brink-of-elimination-jam in the pivotal Game 6 against Atlanta. With the season on the line, Buehler got two strikeouts and a weak grounder to short, and the Dodgers never looked back. Look for Walker to be a top-of-the-rotation guy all year.
Trevor Bauer (2020: 73 IP, 1.79 ERA, 100 K)
Andrew Friedman pulled a rabbit out of his hat again this winter. One year after signing Mookie Betts, he nabbed the most sought-after prize in the free agent market, Trevor Bauer. The Dodgers had to pay the reigning Cy Young a boatload of money to get him in the door, and it remains to be seen if the investment will be worth it. His body of work prior to 2020 was good, but inconsistent. With Cleveland, he had one great year, 2018 when he was 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA. Otherwise, his numbers were just so-so, his ERA generally in the 4’s.
But he is relentlessly competitive, and seemed to figure a lot of things out last year. Of course, Bauer’s monster numbers were all against a generally weak Central Division field, so it remains to be seen if he can sustain that kind of season playing against the bashers on the coasts. We’re thinking he’s young and hungry enough to do it, and should Kershaw or Buehler falter at all, Bauer is sure to get the high-leverage starts in the postseason.
Wait, there’s more!
If the top of the rotation isn’t enough to put fear into the hearts of opponents, the Blue Crew has four MORE top-flight starters that will be fighting for the final two spots in this stacked rotation. More on that next time. Until then enjoy Walker F’n Buehler put out the fire in Dallas last October:
