by Cary Osborne
The №1 goal for the Dodgers at the trade deadline was to get a frontline starter — one who could step into the rotation immediately and make the Dodger pitching staff a daunting matchup for opponents for the remaining two months of the season. And one who better positions the Dodgers to succeed in October.
They feel they have that in veteran right-hander Jack Flaherty.
“Being able to (hit that goal) makes us feel really good about the group that we have in there currently and also who’s coming back to put on a really strong what should be stretch run and October rotation,” said Brandon Gomes, Dodgers executive vice president and general manager.
Flaherty was one of five players the Dodgers acquired in the last two days ahead of Tuesday’s 3 p.m. Major League Baseball Trade Deadline.
The Dodgers added a bullpen piece that they see trending up in Michael Kopech. They added two elite defenders — one for now with veteran outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and one for later with the multipositional Tommy Edman (who is rehabbing from an ankle injury). And they added an infielder/outfield who is platoon neutral in .307 hitting Amed Rosario.
“Obviously we’ve had far more injuries than we expected. So, we’ve talked about it along the way with looking for real impact-type moves,” Gomes said. “And I think as we got closer (to the deadline), both were needed — the impact and the depth-type moves. And I feel like with the acquisition of these five guys, we were able to accomplish that.”
Flaherty was the top starting pitcher who moved at the deadline. The Dodgers dealt two prospects — №8 prospect Thayron Liranzo and №22 Trey Sweeney — for the 28-year-old right-hander.
Flaherty has been one of the American League’s top starting pitchers in 2024. Among starters with at least 100 innings pitched, he ranks seventh in ERA (2.95), second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.2), third in WHIP (0.96), sixth in FIP (3.11), seventh in strikeouts (133) and eighth in opponents’ batting average (.211).
“His command and stuff, the swing and miss, we feel like that is a real power option come October, so he fits into this rotation really well,” Gomes said.
The Dodgers have a formidable top of the rotation with Flaherty joining Tyler Glasnow — two of the top strikeout pitchers in the Majors.
Gomes said the Dodgers have taken note of Flaherty’s mechanical and arm action changes from last year to this year that have helped add a little more velocity and deception.
“You watch him, there’s stuff and command, it’s like, ‘Wow, this is a lot to cover for any hitter,’” Gomes said. “And his ability to do that with such consistency is really impressive.”
Gomes described Edman as a player the Dodgers have coveted for a while.
Edman, a 2021 Gold Glove Award winner with St. Louis at second base, has been a platoon-neutral, multi-positional player who has averaged nearly 50 extra-base hits and 30 stolen bases per year from 2021–2023.
Offseason wrist surgery and an ankle injury — suffered during rehab — have kept him out of Major League action this season. But Edman said on Tuesday the wrist is healed and he’s closer to playing in the field for the first time this year.
Kopech ranks in the 99th percentile in average fastball velocity (98.6 mph) and 89th percentile in expected batting average (.204) this season. In 43 games with Chicago, he had a 4.74 ERA, 4.82 FIP, 1.35 WHIP with 59 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings. Now he comes to a winning team and moves away from a team that had statistically the poorest defense in the Majors.
“It’s one of the best fastballs in the game out of the pen, and then you start to mix in some secondary there, it’s going to make everything play up,” Gomes said.
Kiermaier helps on the defense. He has nine defensive runs saved this season in center field and 27 over the last two seasons.
“We know what he brings to the team on the field. It’s going to be double-plus defense and his speed.” Gomes said. “And then it’s just an exceptional person and teammate on top of that. So we’re fired up.”
The addition of Rosario gives the Dodgers an infielder/outfielder who is hitting .316 vs. left-handers and .301 vs. right-handers this season.
All of this and the Dodgers will have more coming — including expected returns from Mookie Betts, bullpen pieces and starting pitchers.
Some of the names on the injured list include Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove on the pitching side and Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor and Max Muncy on the position-player side.
Gomes said the Dodgers also expect Muncy to return at some point from his oblique injury.
Dodgers additions fill holes, but make them potentially a tougher October matchup was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.