The Los Angeles Dodgers are currently thin on starting pitching, with Blake Snell and potentially Tyler Glasnow set to miss a significant amount of time due to respective shoulder injuries.
As the Dodgers begin a stretch of 10 consecutive games without an off day, they are considering starting Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki on five days of rest as opposed to six.
“That’s a conversation as well,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We did it with Yamamoto last year, right around this time. It’s another thought as far as given the amount of games we have in a row to have them have less rest in between starts.”
Yamamoto and Sasaki have both pitched once per week to this point in the season, which is the same schedule they were accustomed to in Japan.
But with the Dodgers short on starting pitching options, one of them may need to take their turn in the rotation sooner for the time being.
As Roberts noted, Yamamoto pitched on only five days of rest for most of the 2024 season and would appear to be best suited if the Dodgers make a change.
The right-hander has been dominant this season as he owns a 3-2 record, MLB-best 1.06 ERA, 2.28 FIP, 1.00 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine in 34 innings (six starts).
Dodgers could build up Ben Casparius as a starter
The Dodgers may decide to continue utilizing bullpen games when needed for the foreseeable future, but another possibility is building up Ben Casparius as a starter.
“I wouldn’t say on the regular, but I think in one conversation, it’s potentially build up Casparius. We’re just not sure yet,” answered Roberts when asked about the possibility of incorporating set bullpen games.
Casparius allowed just two hits and collected five strikeouts over 3.2 scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 9-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. He unexpectedly had to pitch bulk innings in the wake of Glasnow being removed early from his start.
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