It’s hard to imagine where the Los Angeles Dodgers would be this season without Gavin Stone and his breakout campaign.
Stone has stepped up as not just one of the best pitchers on the club, but one of the most effective pitchers in all of MLB. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the injured list, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller both struggling when not on the injured list, and Clayton Kershaw and Bobby May not pitching until the second half of the season, Stone’s importance to the club has been invaluable.
But it wasn’t always this way. Coming into the year, Stone was fighting for a spot in the rotation after an extremely poor debut season.
The Dodgers could have decided to give up on Stone, and that became a possibility in the offseason. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Stone was brought up a few times in trade discussions with other clubs:
The Dodgers have to be thankful they didn’t deal rookie starter Gavin Stone this past winter when his name came up with several teams in trade talks.
It’s unclear if the Dodgers were willing to trade Stone and offering him to teams, or if he was still a popular name due to his pedigree as one of MLB’s top pitching prospects. It’s also highly possible he was discussed in the trade for Tyler Glasnow from the Tampa Bay Rays before the two sides settled on Ryan Pepiot.
Regardless, the Dodgers obviously feel some relief about not trading him.
In 2023, Stone threw 31 innings, posting a 9.00 ERA and 6.64 FIP with just 6.39 strikeouts per nine innings and 3.77 walks per nine in eight games (four starts).
It was later revealed Stone dealt with a foot injury that messed with his mechanics and eventually caused him to tip pitches, so there was some optimism about a rebound.
In the offseason, Stone put in a lot of work to fix those issues, and he also added weight, mainly eating a lot of Chipotle, to help keep his velocity and stamina up in games.
The results speak for themselves. He owns a 2.73 ERA and 3.34 FIP in 89 innings thus far, striking out 7.08 hitters per nine and walking 2.53.
Stone has even been improving as the year goes on, increasing his strikeout numbers and having a career-high of seven in consecutive outings, which also included his first complete game shutout.
Perhaps most importantly in the eyes of his manager and teammates, Stone has saved the Dodgers’ bullpen on a consistent basis, often pitching deep into games and giving them a chance to win every time out.
Gavin Stone deserving of All-Star selection
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted the strides Stone has made and believes he should receive consideration for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game.
Stone has allowed three runs or fewer in 12 of his 14 appearances this season, and the Dodgers are 11-3 in games started by him.
If Stone does not make the All-Star team, it would arguably be one of the biggest snubs in history.
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