The starting pitching carousel that fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers are highly familiar with is beginning to spin quite rapidly. Not counting the occasional bullpen game by a reliever, the Dodgers have already used seven legit starting pitchers so far this season, eight if you count the two starts by Michael Grove earlier in the year.
The funny thing is that righty Tyler Glasnow, who fans thought might be the most vulnerable to an injury coming into the season, leads the club with 16 starts.
The thing about Glasnow is that he still hasn’t pitched a complete season since he was converted from a swing man to a full-time starter back in 2018. Last year, his 21 starts and 120 innings pitched were the most of his eight-year big league career. The native of Newhall, California, missed nearly all of 2022 after having UCL surgery and missed another two months in 2023 with an oblique strain.
Regardless, with both Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the injured list, the current rotation stacks up with Glasnow, veteran lefty James Paxton and a trio of young right-handers in Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone and Landon Knack.
Ironically, while Glasnow has surely been the most consistent, Stone and Knack might be the most impressive so far this year.
In his last outing on Friday, Knack threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out two batters. So far this year, Knack has made five starts, posting a very impressive 2.10 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP with 18 punchouts and eight walks over 25-1/3 innings.
As some fans like to do this time of year, a few have included Knack as a hypothetical trade piece during the upcoming deadline, but it could be an unwise decision to deal the 26-year-old Tennessee native, especially in light of all the injuries the Los Angeles starting pitching staff typically faces late in the season.
There was plenty of excitement surrounding Clayton Kershaw’s rehab start on Wednesday, but the veteran lefty is dealing with some residual soreness, which may or may not impact the length of his recovery. Kershaw’s next start was slated for Tuesday with Triple-A Oklahoma City against Reno, but it still remains unclear whether that will happen.
Righty Dustin May had a promising bullpen session last week with pitches clocking in above 90 MPH. At this stage of the game, though, he could be farther away from a return than Kershaw. May is working his way back from a UCL surgery last July.
In the meantime, the starting pitching carousel could stay intact with Glasnow, Paxton, Miller, Stone and Knack, at least for as long as Buehler and Yamamoto remain on the injured list.
Whether the Dodgers will decide to add another starter before the deadline remains to be seen.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Knack has been great as has Stone. Paxton has been rock solid. We shall see how Miller progresses. Buehler’s struggles should caution us to not expect Miller, Kershaw or May to be back soon or effective immediately. Next year under contract will be Glasgow, Yamamoto, Stone, Miller, Grove, May and Glasgow plus a few Farm guys that are emerging. That should give the Dodgers some amazing trade chips if they decide they need a contact hitter. The talent should propel this team for many seasons to be a top tier team.
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Not sure that anyone considers Grove a viable starter anymore so maybe he shouldn’t be on your list, but you can add Ohtani and Gonsolin and maybe Sasaki. If Knack isn’t traded, he has certainly shown he’s capable of joining the rotation. By ST 2025, Wrobleski and River Ryan could be ready for consideration as well.
Even if we assume Buehler, Paxton and Kershaw won’t be back, that still leaves quite a few possibilities.
You speak about trading for a contact hitter. Any names you’d like to put out there?
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Oops I said Glasgow at the end and meant Gonsolin. I agree Grove is filling the long man role currently but has improved you never know he may get a feel for a new pitch like the sinker or slider and improve. I have hopes for Lux he appears to be slowly figuring it out. If he can get back to his hitting in 23 Dodgers will be vastly improved. Dodgers have several guys that don’t make consistent contact such as Taylor, Kike. Barnes and lately Heyward. When the bottom 3 in the order get on base the Dodgers offense comes alive. I don’t know the players in the rest of the league as well as most of you. I am guessing they will mostly stand Pat and reevaluate in 25.
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Tyler may be Scottish, but his name is Glasnow, not Glasgow. 🙂
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Kershaw’s comeback might be delayed. He felt some soreness after his last outing. Then he threw a bullpen, and it was not any better. He will be re-evaluated this week. He is supposed to start a re-hab game at OKC. May and Graterol are throwing now, but do not expect May to just step back into the rotation. I doubt he has the time to be built up to throw at least 5 innings. Kersh could be back next season, but only if he makes it back this year and gets to contribute. If he has another set-back, he might just retire. Sasaki is injured right now with no timetable for his return. Under contract for next season, Glasnow, Ohtani, Yamamoto, Gonsolin, May, Stone, Sheehan, Knack. And whoever else AF decides to sign. Dodgers could add a solid arm tomorrow if they wanted. Trevor Bauer is pitching in the Mexican League and pitching well. He would not have to be ramped up. He could pitch six or more innings right away. He deserves another chance, and he is open to returning to the Dodgers. I would take that chance.
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I agree that Bauer deserves another chance but I also feel that of the 30 MLB teams, the Dodgers are the least likely to sign him. I could see one of the Texas teams taking a chance on him or Oakland who couldn’t possibly care at this point what their fan reaction would be.
Even though it might not be a majority of the fanbase, I think whichever team would sign him would have to be ready for lots of negative feedback, something the Dodgers simply aren’t prepared to do at this point.
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Sometimes the Dodgers just take themselves way too seriously. I am pretty sure the fans are tired of the playoff failures. If a guy like Bauer were to come on board and beat some of the better teams and help LA in the playoffs, I am more than sure the backlash would be minimal. He wasn’t convicted of anything, and the woman was proven to be a liar. I have heard fans say they want Urias back, and he was convicted.
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I would also take Bauer back. He is exactly what they need right now. I do not believe the Dodgers have the kahoonas to do it. There would be some initial backlash, but, as soon as he wins a few games that would quickly go away in my opinion.
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T-Max, Heyward is a pretty solid player. He isn’t striking out much and he is making hard contact, plus he brings gold-glove defense to the game. I believe they will make at least a couple of deals. Hernandez is a free agent after the season. Now they could call up Outman at some point to take one roster spot. But I think a hitter like Pham or O’Neill is not out of the question.
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Yes I too like Heyward and his defense is outstanding.
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Keep Knack in the line up as well as Rojas at short stop whether righty or lefty are pitching.
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Knack is in the rotation for now. He will start one of the games this weekend against the Giants. Rojas is no spring chicken. He is going to need a day off now and then. Kike or Taylor can handle it for a game.
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