The Los Angeles Dodgers announced their 5-man starting rotation to begin the season. Although the order has not been fully revealed yet, the rotation will be made up of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic.
Sheehan and Wrobleski competed for the final rotation spot, but Sheehan recently revealed he would begin the year in the rotation. The Dodgers have now confirmed that, while Wrobleski will be used in a piggyback role for the time being.
Ohtani is likely starting on March 31, and Wrobleski will follow him for multiple innings. The Dodgers will not need a sixth starter until April 8, which concludes the end of a six-game road trip. Wrobleski should slot back into the rotation that day.
Dodgers set their Opening Day rotation, per Dave Roberts: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, Shohei Ohtani. Justin Wrobleski will be available as a piggyback first time through, but Dodgers do expect him to take some starts as well.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) March 23, 2026
With Yamamoto, Glasnow and Ohtani locked into starting roles, the only other way for the Dodgers to get Wrobleski into their rotation the first week would have been to demote Sasaki.
However, the Dodgers have continued to back Sasaki despite his spring struggles, and he essentially joined the other three as a rotation lock.
The injuries to Blake Snell and Gavin Stone also allowed the Dodgers to give Sasaki and Sheehan an extended runway to begin the season. Had either of them been healthy, they would have been in the rotation.
The Dodgers also chose to option River Ryan earlier in camp, even though he was among the most electric pitchers the club had in Spring Training. Their reasoning was to allow Ryan more game action after not pitching competitively for so long.
Dodgers rotation order unofficially set?
Yamamoto has already been announced as the Opening Day starter, and Ohtani is lined up to start the fifth game of the season. That likely means Tyler Glasnow will start the second game of the year, while Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki take the third and fourth games.
Yamamoto becomes the first Dodgers pitcher to start consecutive Opening Day games since Clayton Kershaw in 2018, which ended a run of eight consecutive Opening Day starts.
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