The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation was plagued by injuries throughout the 2023 season, and the once strong group ended up being a weakness in the team’s National League Division Series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Clayton Kershaw endured the worst start of his career in the NLDS opener as he gave up six runs on six hits and managed to record only one out. The left-hander was pitching through a shoulder injury that impacted his fastball velocity and command in the second half.
Bobby Miller didn’t fare much better in Game 2 as he allowed three runs and four hits over 1.2 innings of work. Lance Lynn took the loss in the decisive Game 3 after yielding four solo home runs, which all came in his final inning, across 2.2 innings pitched.
With starting pitching a priority for the Dodgers this offseason, general manager Brandon Gomes said the team is looking to add arms that are capable of pitching in the playoffs, via Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
“Clearly our starting pitching wasn’t good in the playoffs,” Gomes said. “Starting pitching didn’t show up the way we expected it to. It’s a little bit of making sure we feel good about our group and making sure that we are acquiring or keeping that depth, as well as trying to add pieces that we feel good about taking down playoff starts.”
The Dodgers are hoping to add at least two starting pitchers, including a top-tier option such as Corbin Burnes, Dylan Cease, Blake Snell or Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The team also wants to bolster its depth in general, with Lucas Giolito being mentioned as a potential bounce-back candidate. L.A. could additionally re-sign Kershaw, and Walker Buehler is expected to return after missing the entire 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Depending on if the Dodgers feel confident in their young pitchers taking a step forward and Buehler’s return, it would not be surprising to see them add two top-of-the-rotation starters.
Andrew Friedman ‘very confident’ Dodgers will contend for World Series in 2024
As the Dodgers pursue roster upgrades, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman believes the team will be in the mix to win the World Series next year.
“Obviously we’re extremely angry and disappointed with how these last two seasons have gone, and we’re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in position for it not to happen again next year,” Friedman said.
“What that means exactly, I’m not sure. But I do feel very confident that when we show up in Arizona in February, we’re going to have a team that has very, very legit championship aspirations.
“Then it’s about going out and taking care of that first part of the goal in the regular season and then doing whatever we can to make sure we’re not sitting here in this exact setting a year from now.”
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