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5 hours ago
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The Los Angeles Dodgers went full force in shoring up their only roster weakness from 2024, but it might not have been enough.
After navigating persistent starting pitcher injuries en route to their World Series championship last season, the Dodgers added the likes of Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to their rotation this past winter. But fewer than 30 games into the season, the team is already scrambling for healthy arms.
On Monday, the Dodgers placed Tyler Glasnow on the injured list with a shoulder problem and he joined Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and River Ryan on the team’s list of injured starters.
The Dodgers will be turning to a mix of relievers to get them through this rough patch, but Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reported that manger Dave Roberts might also push its pair of Japanese starters to take on a new challenge.
“Another ‘conversation,’ Roberts said, could involve Yoshinobu Yamamoto and/or Roki Sasaki pitching more frequently,” per Plunkett. “The Dodgers have kept the two on a once-a-week schedule — trying to replicate the workload they were used to in Japan. With a stretch of 10 games in 10 days and 19 in 20 beginning the weekend, the Dodgers might have to ask them to pitch more often.”
While Sasaki has struggled with his command since making his Major League Baseball debut this season, Yamamoto has been excellent since joining the Dodgers. So far in 2025, he leads all of MLB with a 1.06 ERA across six starts, so pushing him out of his comfort zone would come as a surprise.
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With firm World Series aspirations, the Dodgers should be loath to extend their only healthy ace at this point in the season. But after their latest starter injury update, even this loaded team might be running out of other options.
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Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)