Oh how the mighty have fallen, well just their rotation. When the season began, the Los Angeles Dodgers had one of the best put together rotations in all of baseball. When you’re talking about pure stuff, the rotation absolutely has it and some of the best of it. Now, it is still intact, but they’ve suffered some massive blows in the injury department.

Blake Snell (their big signing in free agency) is on the injured list and has been out of action for a month. He’s gotten injections in his shoulder to help slow things down, but they are taking things slow with him. Furthermore, they’ve been dealt another blow with Tyler Glasnow. He has now been out on the 15 Day injury list with shoulder inflammation. This is a massive blow, not just for Glasnow who dealt with injuries last season but for the rotation. Glasnow was not shy to how he felt about this injury.

“I’m just obsessed with trying to figure out what’s going on,” he said after Sunday’s early exit. “And it’s been like this for a few years, and I’m trying to find a way to stay healthy, and I’ll try to do whatever,” he said Sunday. “I just don’t really have an answer right now, and I think that’s the most frustrating thing. It’s not a lack of trying. It’s just kind of just getting exhausting at this point. I know it’s probably exhausting for a lot of people, for me especially.. … I feel bad for my teammates. I feel bad for people watching. It’s just … a whole very frustrating situation for me. It’s hard.”

You hate it for Glasnow. You hate seeing injuries. Sadly it is part of the game and the sport. Now, the Dodgers will be tested and their depth will be put to the test. Can they survive the injuries?

Can the Dodgers Overcome the Adversity?

Even the best teams have to overcome adversity. The Dodgers have one of the better offenses in baseball, so at least the pitching staff will get that run support. But when it comes to their depth it’ll be tested enormously and that run support could be needed.

In a corresponding move for Glasnow, the Dodgers are bringing up Noah Davis. Davis is a reliever and has only pitched 30 innings in a single season just once. The Dodgers really wasted no time optioning Bobby Miller back to Triple-A just after his first start of the season. So the biggest depth x-factor is going to be Landon Knack.

Knack has made two starts on the season and has a 7.27 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. A lot of runs earned and a lot of traffic on the base paths. He doesn’t excel at the swing and miss, walks batters a ton, and isn’t a strikeout machine. His fastball gets knocked around quite a bit and exceeds its expected rate. The nice thing is the Dodgers have an abundance of riches in the bullpen and can pull off a bullpen game to help weather the storm. These two players are the depth arms, but the big three in the rotation will be relied on heavily to get the job done.

Relying on the Big Three

The big three at the top of the rotation will be leaned on heavily to shoulder the load for the time being. That trio is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin May.

Yamamoto is pitching like the best pitcher in baseball and like the one that got the highest contract ever for a pitcher. Yamamoto has a 1.06 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP for the season, which is amazing work. He’s pitching like an ace and they’ll need him to in this stretch of adversity. Roki Sasaki went from being near the bottom of the rotation and not having pressure put on him, to now being the number two behind Yamamoto.

It was a rough start for Sasaki to begin his MLB career, but he’s gotten better with each start he’s made. He still needs to work on his walk rate and also needs to work on his locating, but he has been a fun pitcher to watch this season in my opinion.

I am so happy for Dustin May. This is a pitcher who legitimately was named to the rotation right before Opening Day and now he’s right near the front of the rotation. May has a 3.68 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Awesome for a pitcher who hasn’t pitched since 2023. He’s had really good success with his sweeper, with a 34% whiff rate on that pitch.

When you really think about it, the Dodgers are in good shape. Even the best teams undergo adversity and have their depth tested. 162 games is a long season and injuries will happen.

It sucks that it’s Snell and Glasnow, but this Dodgers team is built upon depth. Replacing them is tough, but it is doable and no need to panic.