The Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff has been depleted by injuries all season long, and the group was dealt another blow this month when Julio Urías was placed on administrative leave by MLB in the wake of being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.
That was followed by news that Walker Buehler no longer was a candidate to return in 2023 as he instead shifted his focus on getting healthy for next season.
Ryan Pepiot has effectively replaced Urías in the Dodgers rotation, and is expected to have a more solidified role for the rest of the season. The right-hander is among several pitchers who have shuffled between Triple-A Oklahoma City and L.A. this year.
With roughly three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers will soon put together their best 13-man pitching staff for the postseason.
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged the difficult circumstances that have plagued the team but is optimistic they will field a talented collection of arms in October, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“There are still so many unknowns that we haven’t wrapped our arms around that yet,” Friedman said. “We feel like we have really talented arms both in Triple-A, on the IL and on our active roster that we feel like we’re going to have a lot of talent on our pitching staff in October. We might not know exactly who the 13 are going to be right now. But we feel very confident that we will be bringing some big-boy stuff to the table and the ability to match up in different ways to put our offense in a position to shine.”
Even without Urías, Buehler and Tony Gonsolin, along with the likes Daniel Hudson and Blake Treinen being unlikely to pitch again this season, the Dodgers still have plenty of accomplished pitchers they can choose for their postseason roster.
The starting rotation will likely consist of some combination of Clayton Kershaw, Lance Lynn, Bobby Miller and Pepiot, and the bullpen figures to include Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller, Ryan Yarbrough, Ryan Braiser and Caleb Ferguson, among others.
Julio Urías’ locker removed from Dodgers clubhouse
When the Dodgers returned from their road trip at the beginning of the week, Urías’ locker no longer was in the clubhouse. It was given to Kolten Wong, who just signed with the organization last month and joined the roster when it expanded to 28 players at the beginning of September.
What’s more, all Dodger Stadium murals featuring Urías were removed as well.
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