The Dodgers have had almost nothing but bad news this year when it comes to injuries to their pitchers.
On Tuesday, however, the storm clouds that had been hanging over the workforce finally began to clear – or at least partially.
It wasn’t just because Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out eight batters in an impressive four-inning, one-run return. Or because Tyler Glasnow took another step in his recovery from elbow tendinitis by working a bullpen session before a simulation game scheduled for later this week.
Rather, for the first time in months, the team might actually be able to do more than just dream about what a possible postseason rotation might look like.
“I feel much better about the rotation tonight than I did 24 hours ago,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Now if only they could have done something about their sloppy defense.
The Dodgers lost 6-3 to the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday. Numerous defensive errors (including three errors in the decisive five-run eighth inning) contributed to every single point the Cubs scored in their series-deciding victory.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes tonight,” said third baseman Max Muncy. “We have to stop that.”
In fact, the hair-raising mental lapses on the field ruined an otherwise encouraging day for a team that Roberts hoped had already been in “playoff mode” by that point – while on the verge of another National League West division title, holding a 4 1/2 game lead at the end of Tuesday’s game.
With Yamamoto finally back, Glasnow’s return in time for the playoffs looking more and more likely, and top newcomer Jack Flaherty continuing to recover in the 2024 season, the Dodgers may end up with three talented starters.
Less than three weeks before the start of the postseason, the conditions for an actual rotation in October are finally becoming clearer.
“It’s starting to change,” Roberts said, “in terms of restoring the rotation that we had envisioned.”
Of course, none of this is a guarantee.
Yamamoto and Glasnow still have a lot of boxes to check off before they become surefire weapons for the postseason. Flaherty, who battled back problems earlier this season with the Detroit Tigers, has yet to get across the line healthy. The Dodgers could also benefit from the emergence of a clear No. 4 starter and are currently evaluating Walker Buehler, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and Clayton Kershaw (if he returns from his current toe injury) for such a role.
But if things continue to unfold this way, the Dodgers’ potential playoff pitching plans may not be as jumbled together as the team once feared.
Especially if Yamamoto can repeat what he did on Tuesday evening.
After missing nearly three months with a rotator cuff strain in his right throwing shoulder, Yamamoto couldn’t have been more impressive in his long-awaited return.
He took his fastball to both sides of the plate, reaching 98 mph several times. He landed strikes with his curveball and missed six times in 10 swings with his splitter. The only run he allowed came in the second inning after Freddie Freeman failed to catch a high hopper near the first-base line.
“It was a much better start than expected,” Yamamoto said after committing 11 mishits and showing an increase in his velocity compared to the start of the season. “I’m really relieved that I was able to come back and throw well.”
The fourth inning was the end of the road for Yamamoto, who had not thrown more than two innings in his minor league rehab starts in recent weeks.
Read more: Clayton Kershaw tries everything, even working with Skechers, to alleviate his toe injury
But the Dodgers hope this is the start of a late-season resurgence for the 26-year-old, $325 million pitcher, who has a 2.88 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 15 starts so far in his debut season.
“He really stood out,” Roberts said. “I didn’t know if he would get a little rusty or how well he would handle the baseball, but he came through with flying colors.”
Glasnow, whose status for October was uncertain since he was placed on the injured list last month with an elbow injury, also appears to be turning a corner.
The veteran right-hander and the team’s de facto player threw his second bullpen of the last week on Tuesday and impressed Roberts and the other club officials in an extended session in which he performed his entire pitch mix.
“It was good,” Roberts said. “I didn’t talk to him about it afterward, but I liked what I saw.”
Glasnow will next throw a simulated two- or three-inning game on Friday during the team’s trip to Atlanta. If that goes well, he could return before the end of the regular season, an encouraging development for the team’s $136.5 million signing, who was 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA before his injury.
“Getting him into a major league game (before the end of the regular season) is a priority,” Roberts said.
In his pregame address to reporters, Roberts remained cautiously optimistic about the state of the Dodgers’ pitchers (who are still without Kershaw, who returned to catcher on Tuesday, and Gavin Stone, who remains out with shoulder inflammation).
“In theory, there’s a hopeful part here, but there’s also a realistic part,” Roberts said when asked how well Yamamoto and Glasnow could be positioned by the time the playoffs begin.
“I think we’re all happy because whatever the situation is, it is what it is and we have to go from there. So obviously I’d like to say six (innings) and 90 (pitches) would be great. How realistic that is for both guys, time will tell.”
At the end of the evening, however, the manager was unhappy with his team’s poor performance on the field – the main reason for their fourth defeat in the last six games.
After taking a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning – Tommy Edman hit two early home runs, his first of the season, and Max Muncy hit a home run in the fifth inning – the Dodgers surrendered during the Cubs’ five-run comeback.
Reliever Alex Vesia worked a leadoff walk. Throwing errors by Austin Barnes (who threw wide of first base after a swinging bunt) and Tommy Edman (who threw a ball up the middle that neither shortstop Miguel Rojas nor Muncy caught at third base) led to the two tying points. Then the decisive point came when second baseman Kiké Hernández lost the ball while trying to tag a baserunner on a potential double play.
“That was very out of character for me,” Roberts said. “Just a different team that I didn’t really recognize in that eighth inning.”
Barnes took responsibility for his missed throw.
“It was terrible,” he said. “This is on me.”
Who was responsible for Edman’s mistake was not entirely clear in the locker room after the game.
Muncy, who let the ball get past third base before dropping into the Dodgers’ dugout, said he thought Rojas was going to break up the play at shortstop.
“I mean, the ball was thrown right at him,” Muncy said. “Yeah, I thought he was going to catch it.”
Roberts, however, said Rojas was trying to fool the runner at first base to prevent him from getting to second base, holding up a glove as a feint because he thought Muncy was in position to get the ball behind him.
“Miggy made the right play trying to hold the runner on first base,” Roberts said. “To be honest, I don’t know if Max was in the right position and then the ball went by him. That’s a play that shouldn’t have gone by the third baseman.”
These errors dampened the positive mood that had been building in the stadium following Yamamoto’s impressive start, and reminded us that there is still some fine-tuning to be done in the final stages of the season.
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Still, compared to the team’s situation a few days ago, when Flaherty seemed to be the only sure bet for a possible postseason appearance, better days may finally be in sight for the Dodgers’ injury-plagued pitching staff.
While Tuesday’s win didn’t end in victory, it could position them for a strong push in October that once seemed in doubt.
“Obviously, it’s never a good feeling to lose a ballgame,” Roberts said. “But I think the big takeaway is that we have (Yamamoto) back.”
Gonsolin begins rehab
In more positive pitcher injury news, right-hander Tony Gonsolin began rehab with Triple-A Oklahoma City and pitched two scoreless innings in his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.
It remains unlikely that Gonsolin will make the major league roster this year, Roberts said, unless a “crazy scenario” comes to pass.
But by completing some rehab work before the end of this year, Gonsolin should be primed for a smoother return to the Dodgers’ rotation in 2025.
Teoscar’s return
The Dodgers’ lineup is expected to receive a reinforcement of its own on Wednesday, as Teoscar Hernández will return to the batting order after missing the last four games with a bruised foot.
Hernández was available as a substitute on Tuesday. Roberts joked before the game that he had “not yet been able to convince the training staff” to give the green light to the batsman’s return to the starting lineup.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
