The Los Angeles Dodgers have experienced a repeat of last season with the health of their starting rotation, namely Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
To make matters worse, Shohei Ohtani is also unavailable on the mound for an indefinite amount of time as he deals with lingering left knee trouble. Despite it all, the Dodgers’ starting staff has performed at an elite level with one of the best combined ERAs.
L.A.’s pitching situation continues to trend upward with recent updates on the conditions of Snell and Glasnow. There remains plenty of uncertainty surrounding Ohtani’s immediate future on the mound, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is confident all three pitchers will be part of the starting rotation this season.
“I feel very confident,” Roberts recently said. “Obviously, with Snell being more built up, everything that I’m hearing from the medical staff. I think Tyler is in a really good spot physically, on his way back to going out, and then Shohei, I think that we’re just trying to be prudent.
“So I think overall in total, I feel very good for the rest of the season with all three of those guys as starting pitchers.”
Since Roberts’ comments, Snell completed a rehab assignment and is poised to get activated off the 60-day injured list on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Glasnow is making his second rehab start Sunday and Ohtani has resumed playing catch.
But, Ohtani’s situation has been more complex than the Dodgers initially anticipated. The team believed he would be ready to resume two-way duties coming out the All-Star break, only for that to not come to be.
Ohtani then also missed one game in his designated hitter role because of soreness in his troublesome left knee. Ohtani has continued to maintain confidence he will pitch again this season but it’s not yet clear when he will start throwing off a mound.
Dodgers bolster rotation with Tarik Skubal trade
While the Dodgers were still waiting for more clarity on their injured starters, they addressed the rotation in a big way by trading for Tarik Skubal.
In some sense it was an expected outcome once the Detroit Tigers elected to make their ace available. Skubal took the loss in his Dodgers debut and now is making his first start with the team at Dodger Stadium on Monday.
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