Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers everywhere got an early holiday present with the signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Although these two moves seemingly put Los Angeles in a very strong position to contend for many years, the team still might need some help to get over the hump in the short term.
We already know that Ohtani won’t be available to pitch until at least the beginning of the 2025 season, but there have already been whispers circulating that Walker Buehler might have a delayed start to his 2024 campaign, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Jack Harris.
Harris writes, “it is becoming increasingly likely that Buehler might have a delayed start to his 2024 season, given he’ll be facing a likely innings limit in his return from a second Tommy John surgery.”
It’s probably a good thing that the Dodgers will be cautious with Buehler because he figures to be a prominent part of the starting rotation picture towards the end of the season should the team be in contention for a playoff run. However, with his absence, the team may have to dig deep into the minor league reserve early, especially if dealing with some type of unfortunate injury like we saw last season.
In 2023 spring training, the rotation was lining up with Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Noah Syndergaard. It’s not quite clear if and when Kershaw will return to the team, but early indications are that May could be in a position to join the team in some capacity towards the All-Star break. Gonsolin is out for the year after having UCL surgery last fall, and both Syndergaard and Urias are long gone.
That said, the 2024 Opening Day rotation is setting up as an all-righty staff. Yamamoto leads the way — if healthy — followed by Bobby Miller and the newly signed Tyler Glasnow. Someone like Emmet Sheehan could slide into the fourth spot, with the fifth spot going to a youngster like Landon Knack, Gavin Stone, Nick Frasso or Michael Grove, should the team decide to utilize Grove as a starter rather than a reliever.
Lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who was omitted from the 2023 NLDS rotation, could also slide into a starting role, especially when considering the lack of southpaws.
If indeed the Dodgers decide to limit Buehler’s work significantly, it probably makes more sense to do it sooner rather than later. Bill Plunkett of the OC Register recently reported that the club is likely to be flexible regarding the specific innings total Buehler is allowed to reach and his schedule for the 2024 campaign as a whole.
The Dodgers used a total of 17 different pitchers last year as starters. More realistically, that number was 13 if you throw out openers like Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia, Shelby Miller and Victor Gonzalez. Still, it could be a wise move to secure at least another innings-eater type of security blanket before the start of spring training.
Free agents like Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery have been at the top of the Los Angeles rumor list all winter, primarily because they are lefties. However, there’s still plenty of time to orchestrate some type of trade in the coming weeks. If front-office boss Andrew Friedman is approaching the upcoming season with high caution regarding his rotation, there’s a very good chance of another high-quality arm coming to the Dodgers.