Heading into the start of the 2024 regular season, the offense of the Los Angeles Dodgers received most of the attention across the baseball blogosphere by boasting one of the most prolific one-two-three punches the game has seen in recent history.
However, a pair of righty pitchers stole the show this week, leading the Dodgers to two early victories in their home opening series at Dodgers Stadium.
Bobby Miller captured most of the spotlight on Friday night in a dazzling exhibition against a not-too-shabby Cardinals lineup on paper. It’s probably not right to say that it was the best outing of the 24-year-old Miller’s career, but it’s certainly safe to claim that his stuff looks as good as ever.
MIller kept St. Louis off balance all night with a heater that sat around triple digits and a highly effective low-80s changeup. He ended up throwing six full shutout innings with 11 punchouts, highlighted by striking out the side in the top of the first inning.
Newcomer Tyler Glasnow got the nod to start both openers for the Dodgers — the official MLB opener in South Korea last week and the home opener for the Dodgers on Thursday. The 30-year-old looked solid in both outings, but his second start of the season was definitely the most impressive.
If Paul Goldschmidt had not homered in the fourth inning Thursday, Glasnow’s numbers would have been similar to Miller’s, strikeouts aside. Granted, Glasnow wasn’t as overpowering as Miller, but he had relatively solid command over six innings and kept St. Louis where he wanted them all day.
Clearly, one or two games is a small sample size, but these performances were a breath of fresh air for a Los Angeles rotation that faced a ton of scrutiny as the calendar turned into 2024.
With Walker Buehler building up his arm and both Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May on the shelf for at least half the season, many felt the Dodgers pitching staff wouldn’t have enough juice to pull their weight.
The interesting thing is that the starting rotation this season has an entirely new look. Just two years ago, Los Angeles spent most of the year with a staff dominated by lefties in Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney. This year, the lone lefty is 35-year-old James Paxton, and his role could conceivably change when other pitchers become more available.
Perhaps the most interesting story of the pitching staff so far is Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In his first start against the Padres in South Korea, the Japanese righty lasted only one inning, getting hammered for five earned runs on four hits and a walk. Skipper Dave Roberts cited command as Yamamoto’s primary issue, as fans wonder how long it will take the 25-year-old to get into sync.
Yamamoto will take the bump on Saturday with hopes of keeping the Dodgers’ winning ways alive. The first pitch is slated for 6:10 p.m. West Coast time, weather permitting.