The Dodgers’ pitching staff is the most injured in the sport, as has become common for Los Angeles. With three of their five Opening Day starters currently on the injured list, L.A. has been using secondary choices in its rotation in recent weeks. That’s still a strong group, as staff ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is joined by a solid group despite those injuries: Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, and Landon Knack are all pitchers most teams would be happy to have on staff.
Even so, Dodgers fans are surely hoping for the club’s other rotation arms to get healthy soon, particularly given the fact that May’s 4.09 ERA (96 ERA+) is the best of the group aside from Yamamoto. They received some good news on that front today, as manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic) that right-hander Roki Sasaki is set to start a throwing progression at some point this coming week. It’s the first sign of the 23-year-old phenom beginning to ramp back up toward a return since he was placed on the shelf with a right shoulder impingement two weeks ago.
It’s encouraging news regarding Sasaki’s status, but fans shouldn’t expect him back on the mound in the near future. Even after Sasaki resumes throwing, it will be some time before he begins throwing bullpen sessions and facing hitters. A rehab assignment of some length is sure to follow after those boxes are checked, and that could leave Sasaki several weeks away from a return to action yet. Still, the fact that the youngster appears likely to return before the first half of the season comes to a close is certainly encouraging. The Dodgers are surely hoping that Sasaki’s current stay on the injured list is giving him time to get on track before his return, as well. After all, the righty has struggled to this point in his big league career with a 4.72 ERA and 6.13 FIP across eight starts and a worrying 14.3% walk rate.
If Sasaki’s ramp back up to big league readiness may end up being as much about getting him right as it is about getting him healthy, the same could arguably be said about right-hander Tyler Glasnow. The 31-year-old had an uncharacteristic 4.50 ERA with a 5.41 FIP in 18 innings of work across his first five starts of the season before getting shelved with inflammation in his right shoulder near the end of April, but the good news is that he’s making good progress towards a return. MLB.com notes that Glasnow threw his first bullpen session since going on the shelf on Friday. The session lasted less than 20 pitches, but Roberts suggested that Glasnow came out of it feeling “great.”
That suggests that Glasnow is a bit ahead of Sasaki in his rehab process. The veteran righty will likely throw more bullpen sessions with higher pitch counts before progressing to facing live hitters and an eventual rehab assignment, but this weekend’s first step was nonetheless an important one. Glasnow would be a huge boost to the Dodgers’ rotation if he comes back looking anything like he did last year, when he pitched to a 3.49 ERA with a 2.91 FIP across 22 starts during his first year in Los Angeles.
Positive as those updates regarding the rotation might be, however, the Dodgers also revealed some worrying news regarding the status of right-hander Evan Phillips today. The reliever was shelved earlier this month due to what was termed “discomfort” in his right forearm at the time, and while that injury was initially believed to be minor Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that Phillips is still feeling discomfort and has yet to resume throwing three weeks later. Harris went on to note that Roberts acknowledged the injury is “starting to get a little concerning,” though he added that the club is still “hoping for the best.”
Phillips is sorely missed in a bullpen that is also without Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, and Brusdar Graterol among others. The righty was removed from Los Angeles’s closer job last year but has been nothing but excellent during his time with the Dodgers overall, posting a 2.22 ERA in 195 innings of work since the club acquired him back in 2021. That includes seven scoreless appearances this season where he struck out 27.3% of opponents while issuing walks at just a 9.1% clip.
Tyler Glasnow’s hair is now healthy and ready to come off the IL. The rest of him, including his right arm, will likely take several additional weeks.
You cant get much out of him. As he gets older, things only get worse.
mlb fan: I’m more concerned about May’s hair. Rumor has it he has an appointment with Revlon about product to control his glorious mane.
you guys are probably too young to remember the 60s when guys like Oscar Gamble played in the MLB. I say let the freak flags fly and hope it pisses some off.
Not too young, but Gamble was more ’70s-80s. There, I made you feel a little bit younger!
I don’t remember seeing any of these crazy manes until pretty recently.
Yeah you got me there. It was the 1970s I was thinking of more than the 60s. Oscar played 1969-1984. Wild mustaches and sideburns (ex Al Hrabosky, Vuckovich, Thuman Munson, Rollie Fingers) of that era have been replaced by beards today.
There were some Charles Manson types in the 1990-2000s (Johnny Damon comes to mind).
And then of course the mullets of the early 80s and 90s (Rod Beck….and John Kruk especially looked ridiculous). Chris Paddack is still partying in the throw back.
I’m starting to wonder if how fast they pull starters is part of the problem. It feels like you have to pitch an absolute gem to get beyond the 5th inning.
The only reason Knack went 6 innings tonight was because of the rain delay on Friday.
“I’m starting to wonder…Knack went 6 innings”…Knack was solid obviously. I haven’t seen the Dodgers look as futile at the plate as they did today in quite a long time.
The only reason Knack went 6 innings tonight was because of the rain delay on Friday.
……………………….
Im curious about the same thing, Darren. The Giants have implemented a starters going old school deep philosophy, and apart from old man Verlanders recent hiccup, have been healthy. This philosophy includes their top starter prospect being pushed to go deep into games at AAA. We are a use it or lose it animal so who knows.
I’m sure the Dodgers understand how beaten up the bullpen has become from extensive use and would like to get their starters deeper into games. The issue is that three starters are coming back from injuries and long layoffs. When Glasnow and Snell return they’ll be pitch-limited for a while too, no doubt. The part of this not dictated by medical and training considerations is driven by analytics.
You mean they’ve implemented that philosophy for Webb? He’s averaging 6.1 IP next is Ray at 5.7 IP. After that there’s a significant drop. In comparison Yamamoto averaging 5.8 IP and next May at 5.6 IP.
It’s really nothing significant.
averaging 6.1 innings per game is elite in this day and age (top 10 in MLB). Tops in the league among qualified SPs is 6.3 Wheeler and Fried. Anything above 5.5 is very good.
@Brew He tried to portray it as something Giants rotation as a whole was doing. In reality it is only Webb.
I hadn’t realized that 6.1 put him in top 10, thanks for info on that.
A little granular , but….
I’m a bit confused as both Brew and Tigers32 are using numbers after decimal (in baseball innings stats, it’s not a true decimal point) in a more a more mathematical way than a baseball way. eg: There’s 5.1 (5 1/3) , 5.2 (5 2/3) , and then 6 innings (5.3 is same as 6)
How does a pitcher pitch 5.5 or 6.3? It sounds like you’re referencing stats from site that tracks batters faced (?) and not outs recorded.
Either way, I’ve never heard a pitcher pitching 5.7 innings-maybe in an alternate universe where there are 10 outs in each inning.
#Innings Pitched divided by Games Started is how the stat is calculated. Example, 6.1 innings per game is less than 6 1/3 inning.
Thanks Brew…. That seems like making tenths of an inning where there are none. Essentially, average innings pitched per start is not an actual metric if values like . 5.5 or 6.7 are used to express an average.
5.1 is 5 1/10th of an inning. If broke down into thirds after rounding it wouldn’t really show the difference between players.
When a decimal point is used it does not become thirds. A decimal point denotes tenths, regardless of context being used that is how decimal points work.
It’s weird math for sure. I remember in jr high school asking my math teacher how Dan Fouts could throw 2.1 TDs per game in 1981. Got a convoluted answer about human constructs. Asked my dad same question and he said that’s nothing compared to the 12.2 full moons we get each year. We need a chalkboard
Starting pitchers of 2025 and beyond cannot go past 5 innings for the majority. We had “openers” a few weeks into the season, with some starts barely lasting 4 innings. They are Blake Snell types. Speaking of Snell, he is a payroll bandit and will be out for the yr. Snell contract is a bust. Glasnow is a bust, Sasaki is a huge bust. The injuries will only get worse for the injuriy prone starters on this team. They will still won, somehow.
I’m starting to think robw5555’s first words when he was born was “payroll” and “bandit”
He was pitching very well. “Only reason” is absurd.
robw: Snell should be like Tim Hill and wait for the second half of the season to pitch. I think Sasaki is having trouble adjusting to the major leagues even with the six days off between starts.
Now do Snell
Snell will be out for the year. He will be a total bust for that contract.
He will miss most starts but around year 3 he will win a Cy award just like he does everywhere else
Snell started throwing a couple of weeks ago and is eligible to come off the IL on June 3. No doubt they will put him on a rehab assignment, so the best guess for his return to the rotation is mid to late June.
It is odd that Snell wasn’t mentioned in this article.
I’m not sure he’s ever had this type of scenario where he essentially misses the first half of the season then starts to pitch in summer. Last season might have been the closest approximation and no doubt the scenario the Dodgers are hoping for.
He’s always started seasons poorly (months of April and May). And typically, by summer he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball ROS. So, what happens in late June when he returns, does he have the April/May start up slump? Or is he mid-/late- summer Blake?
I’ve seen Sasaki pitch. He’s not very good lol
So much for people thinking the Dodgers were this unstoppable juggernaut with a bottomless Triple-A “Japan” team upon Sasaki’s signing…
Literally everyone who has an inkling of who Sasaki is has seen him pitch.
The Sasaki of the latter half of 2024 and now 2025 is not the Sasaki that was maybe the best pitcher on the planet in 2022, 23, and the first half of 2024. Scouts who watched him said last year he lost something and his velocity went down. He paid a price to sit at 100mph. He will probably end up getting surgery at some point this year.
Unglued = 1st place and likely playoff team
Sasaki ‘huge’ bust? He really has not a chance to show his true stuff yet (I truly believe he should be working on his ‘pitching’/ not just throwing at AAA & come back in ‘26) + LA only signed him to a rookie contract. If he is a bust, not a ‘huge’ deal.
Sasaki was signed as an advanced prospect. Every team was interested in his raw talent, and he selected the Dodgers as the best organization to refine it and move on to the next performance level. Nobody who paid any attention at all to the Sasaki sweepstakes expected him to be a finished product right out of the box. He’s all of 23 years old, and a work in progress, just as everyone expected.
Sasaki averaged 99 in Japan. Dodgers have him sitting 95 to 97 supposedly to improve command. Did the change cause him to injure his shoulder? Should the Dodgers let him get back to 99? Obviously, his command didn’t improve!
This contradicts the information coming from the Dodgers. They say the fall off in velocity is probably the result of the shoulder discomfort and his making mechanical compensations for it.
His drop in velocity happened in Japan. His fastball went from 100mph to 96/97 in Japan over the course of the 2024 season. That was the first warning sign. He also throws a very straight fastball with no movement.
How exactly is Sasaki a “phenom”?
Why would any team be “happy” to have Kershaw and his washed up 7:50 ERA on their team?
Asking for everyone.
Sasaki was a phenom in NPB, but the people who wanted to make the Dodgers the target of their bashing went to great lengths to prop him up like he was going to win all 34 of his starts with a absolute 0.00 ERA, and that the Dodgers were keen on relying on their “Triple-A team known as Japan”…
Not asking for me. You sound low information
How’s this for low information: The Giants have the best starting staff and bullpen in MLB.
Dodgers have started a very tough 4 week strech of schedule and it doesn’t sound like any starters will be back in that time. For relievers, Kopech is pitching but has been ludicrously ineffective in his rehab assignment. Yates is waiting out a hammie injury. Treinen is on the DL until mid-June. Dodger fans will have to grit their teeths and listen to the haters.
If the dodgers didn’t have haters it would feel strange.
I don’t recall the Dodgers pitchers, starters or relievers, having all of these injuries during Rick Honeycutt’s days as the team’s pitching coach.
In fact I remember the Dodgers being at or near the top of almost every pitching category as a team, wins, ERA, batting average against, WHIP.
Something has changed between Honeycutt’s approach and Mark Prior’s. Nothing but injuries now!
Correlation does not equal causation
fmg; No??? Mighty strange.
They also have traded for and signed a lot of guys with injury histories.