The Los Angeles Dodgers are poised to begin another playoff run in 2023, what would be over a decade of making the playoffs for the Boys in Blue.

This season will start with a bit more uncertainty than a lot of those previous teams, however. Gone are many of the players that helped lead the team to breaking the team record in wins, twice.

Prior to the start of the game on Thursday, the Dodgers officially announced their Opening Day roster.

Among the position players, Jason Hayward officially has his contract selected by the club. Dennis covered some thoughts on Heyward in his column Sunday. Gavin Lux was moved to the 60-day IL to make room for Heyward.

The only real surprise was that Ryan Pepiot will start the season on the injured list. Pepiot gave up five runs in his last Spring Training outing on Tuesday against the Angels.

Pepiot told reporters on Thursday that he started to feel soreness during his last Cactus League start, and it lingered into his start against the Angels. He is hopeful that they caught it early, and it will not be a lasting injury, but no timetable has been set yet for his return.

On Thursday, he was placed on the 15-day IL dealing with a left oblique strain.

Michael Grove will now replace Pepiot on the roster and as the number five starter.

Pepiot was going to be the fifth starter, replacing Tony Gonsolin, who was injured early in Spring Training with an ankle sprain. And as such, Pepiot’s injury sets the already thin starting rotation back one more step.

For his part, Grove appeared in seven games for the Dodgers last season, going 29.1 innings, allowing 15 earned runs and striking out 24.

Andre Jackson was the last addition to the pitching staff, and looks to be the long man out of the bullpen, if needed.

In total, the Dodgers are starting the season with nine players on the injured list.

Many Dodgers fans are somewhat apprehensive going into this season. Dodger fans are still disgruntled with the ridiculously early exit from the playoffs last season after winning 111 games. Now, having so many players and new faces covering really important positions, such as middle infield, does worry some fans.

How will J.D. Martinez fair as the DH? How will the starting pitching staff fair? And how will the rookies, James Outman and Miguel Vargas, perform? How will the new powerhouse team down the coast do, and how tight a race with the NL West actually turn out to be, one way or another? There are quite a few storylines to watch as the season unfolds.

Here’s to a season with as few injuries as possible, great moments, and a chance to win it all at the end. Cheers, Dodger fans. Let’s get this thing started.