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Latest On Blake Snell

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Blake Snell is set to meet with Dodgers team doctors on Monday as the parties try to determine the next step in his recovery from left shoulder soreness.  Snell’s shoulder is still bothering him, to the point that plans to resume playing catch earlier this week were put on hold until Snell received a check-up from the medical staff.

Snell has been on the 15-day injured list since April 3, and tests haven’t revealed any structural damage within his throwing shoulder.  He did start throwing in mid-April and had one bullpen session, but continued discomfort in his shoulder scrapped plans for another pen session on April 23.  MLB.com’s Sonja Chen writes that Snell has received an injection in his shoulder since April 23, though the treatment didn’t appear to do much to solve the issue.

More will be known about Snell’s status once the check-up actually takes place tomorrow, though it can’t be considered a good sign that the two-time Cy Young Award winner has now gone close to three weeks without throwing, and what was initially thought to be a relatively minor shoulder issue has now cost Snell an increasingly big chunk of the 2025 season.

Injuries have long been a subplot of Snell’s career, yet when healthy, Snell has looked like one of the better pitchers in the sport over the last decade.  The Dodgers were encouraged enough by this upside to sign Snell to a five-year, $182MM free agent deal this past winter, even though a variety of injuries in the first half of the 2024 season limited him to 104 innings with the Giants last year.

Given this track record, nobody would be surprised if Snell again looks like an ace whenever he returns to the L.A. mound.  The fact that Snell hit the IL after just two starts in Dodger Blue is certainly ominous, however, and those concerns won’t dissipate unless Snell gets some good news in tomorrow’s check-up, or (more directly) when he is actually on a clear track to a return to action.

Tyler Glasnow is also set to meet with team doctors tomorrow, though this appears to be something of a final step before the right-hander gets the green light to start a formal rehab process.  Glasnow went on the 15-day IL on April 28 due to his own case of shoulder inflammation, and that placement was soon followed by news of a 10-14 day shutdown.  That shutdown period is now complete, as manager Dave Roberts told Chen and other reporters that Glasnow is pain-free and started playing catch this weekend.

Assuming tomorrow’s check-up goes well, it will still be a while before Glasnow is back off the IL, as he’ll need time (and probably at least one minor league rehab start) to fully rebuild his arm strength.  But especially given the uncertainty surrounding Snell, Glasnow’s return to at least light throwing is a good sign.

Snell and Glasnow are two of a whopping 13 pitchers on the Dodgers’ seemingly ever-crowded injured list, and Shohei Ohtani could technically be considered the 14th given how Ohtani hasn’t pitched since undergoing a UCL-related surgery in September 2023.  However, a major name is set to be activated next weekend, as Clayton Kershaw threw what is expected to be his final minor league rehab outing today.

Kershaw tossed 57 pitches over four innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City in today’s start, which was the fourth outing of his rehab stint.  Kershaw underwent surgeries on his left plantar plate and a torn left meniscus last November, and began the season on the 60-day injured list as part of that recovery process.  Because the Dodgers’ season began earlier than usual due to their series in Tokyo with the Cubs, May 17 represents the first day that Kershaw is eligible to be activated off the 60-day IL.  Whether Kershaw is activated on the exact day or the next, the future Hall-of-Famer will make his 2025 debut during next weekend’s series against the Angels.

Once Kershaw is back, Los Angeles will be back up to a five-man rotation that also includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May.  Since Yamamoto and Sasaki are on once-a-week pitching schedules to emulate their usage in Japan, the Dodgers should still deploy an unofficial six-man staff to make up for those extra starts, with the likes of Landon Knack, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, or others stepping into spot duty.

Dodgers Sign Lou Trivino To Minors Deal

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The Dodgers have signed right-hander Lou Trivino to a minor league contract, MLBTR’s Anthony Franco reports.  Trivino was only briefly on the open market, as he elected to become a free agent just yesterday after he was designated for assignment by the Giants and cleared waivers.

Trivino inked a minors deal with San Francisco during the offseason, and he locked in a $1.5MM salary from that contract after an impressive spring performance earned Trivino a spot on the Opening Day roster.  Unfortunately, the righty’s Spring Training numbers didn’t translate to the regular season, as Trivino posted a 5.84 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Giants’ bullpen.  His strikeout and walk rates were below average, but the largest issue was the long ball, as Trivino gave up four home runs in his short span as a Giant.

The Pro Edge Sports Management client now looks for a fresh start with the Giants’ arch-rivals in Los Angeles.  A minor league deal is a no-risk endeavor for the Dodgers in seeing what Trivino can bring, and the club’s ever-present need for healthy arms means that Trivino could see some action with the World Series champs in pretty short order.  Given the Dodgers’ history of reviving pitchers’ careers, it wouldn’t even be a surprise to see Trivino return to pre-injury form.

Trivino posted a 3.86 ERA in 284 2/3 innings with the A’s and Yankees from 2018-22, with the bulk of that work coming with Oakland before the Athletics dealt him to the Bronx at the 2022 trade deadline.  Trivino’s penchant for walks led to some inconsistent performances, but when he was on, he was very sharp.  For instance, he performed well as the Athletics’ closer in 2021, and he had 1.66 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with the Yankees over the remainder of the 2022 season.

Unfortunately, Trivino missed the entirety of the 2023-24 seasons due to a Tommy John surgery, and then some elbow and shoulder soreness that held up his rehab enough that he couldn’t make it back it back onto a big league mound before 2024 was over.  His early-season struggles and a minor dip in his pre-2023 velocity could well be some side effects of Trivino just working his way back into form after the long layoff, adding to the possible upside for the Dodgers.

White Sox Claim Yoendrys Gomez, Release Greg Jones

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The White Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander Yoendrys Gomez off waivers from the Dodgers.  Outfielder Greg Jones was released to open up a 40-man roster space.

After spending the majority of his pro career in the Yankees farm system, Gomez is now joining his third different organization in the last three weeks.  New York designated Gomez for assignment in late April and the Dodgers claimed him off waivers, only to themselves DFA Gomez earlier this week.  Gomez has seen some big league time with both of his 2025 teams, posting a 2.70 ERA in 10 relief innings for the Yankees and a whopping 14.54 ERA over 4 1/3 innings and three appearances with Los Angeles.

This workload makes it 27 2/3 career MLB innings for Gomez since he made his debut during the 2023 season, with a 4.88 ERA for his time in the Show.  Since the start of the 2021 season, Gomez has thrown only 246 2/3 total innings in the majors and minors, as a Tommy John surgery drastically cut into his availability in 2021-22.

Gomez still posted some pretty solid numbers in the minors, including a 3.67 ERA and 27% strikeout rate over 83 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level.  However, Gomez’s walk rate has also crept upwards as he has worked his way up the minor league ladder.  While he has worked almost exclusively as a starter in the minors, he has worked only as a reliever in his brief MLB tenure, albeit usually throwing multiple innings in his appearances.

Since Gomez is out of minor league options, the White Sox will need to keep him on their active roster unless they’re willing to expose him to waivers again in an effort to outright him off the 40-man roster and send Gomez down to Triple-A.  The pitching-needy Sox should be able to make use of a multi-inning reliever who may yet have some utility as a depth starter, so this latest move could give the 25-year-old Gomez a clearer path to big league playing time than he would’ve likely found with the Yankees or Dodgers.

Jones was a waiver claim himself in late March, as the White Sox plucked him away from the Rockies just prior to Opening Day.  Jones appeared in just three MLB games with Chicago, after making his debut in the Show last season and playing in six games with Colorado.  In a nod to his speed and defense, Jones has been a late-game sub in all but one of his nine career games in the majors, and he has one hit (a home run) in eight plate appearances.

Known as one of the fastest players in baseball, Jones has stolen 167 bases (out of 192 attempts) during six minor league seasons.  This speed and multi-positional defensive ability drew some top-100 prospect attention from MLB Pipeline in 2022 when Jones was in the Rays’ farm system, though he has also struck out in 567 of his 1662 career PA at the minor league level.  He had posted solid Triple-A numbers before his production drastically fell off with Triple-A Charlotte this season, and thus the Sox have decided to move on in the form of a proper release.

Jones is still only 27, and his speed is the type of premium ability that usually intrigues teams.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see another club scoop Jones up as at least a depth piece, with an eye towards possibly unlocking something at the plate that can turn Jones into more of a functional asset at the MLB level.

Dodgers Place Evan Phillips On IL With Forearm Discomfort

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The Dodgers announced today that right-hander Evan Phillips has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right forearm discomfort. Fellow righty Matt Sauer has been recalled to take his spot on the active roster.

The club hasn’t provided any details about Phillips but it’s a concerning announcement. It’s always somewhat worrisome when a pitcher’s elbow/forearm are the cause of an IL stint and it only exacerbates what has already been a challenging year for the righty. Phillips was left off the Dodgers’ World Series roster last year. An MRI revealed nerve irritation in his shoulder and he was also dealing with tightness in his lat, triceps and biceps, as well as arm fatigue.

Coming into 2025, he revealed that he has been diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during the playoffs. The issue still wasn’t fully resolved by Opening Day 2025, with Phillips starting the season on the 15-day IL. The club listed his ailment as a right rotator cuff strain. He was reinstated from the IL in mid-April. He has since pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings but is now back on the shelf again.

Time will tell how serious this current issue is. For the time being, the Dodger bullpen is once again deprived of a potential weapon. From 2022 to 2024, Phillips tossed 179 innings for the Dodgers with a 2.21 earned run average, 29.6% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 42.6% ground ball rate. He served as the club’s primary closer for stretches in there, earning 24 saves in 2023 and 18 last year.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Dodgers To Place Teoscar Hernandez On Injured List

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3:36pm: Manager Dave Roberts tells the Dodgers beat that Hernandez is dealing with a Grade 1 adductor strain and that there’s no timetable for a return but Hernandez will be “inactive for awhile.”

3:29pm: The Dodgers announced Hernandez has been placed on the 10-day IL. Outman has indeed been recalled from Oklahoma City to take his spot on the active roster.

3:04pm: The Dodgers will place outfielder Teoscar Hernandez on the 10-day injured list, reports Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The team has yet to formally announce the move or a corresponding transaction, but as first noted by Jack Harris of the L.A. Times, James Outman traveled to meet the team in Miami.

Hernandez exited yesterday’s game with tightness in his left hamstring, the Dodgers announced last night. He went for an MRI to determine the severity of his ailment. The results of that imaging still aren’t clear, nor is a potential timetable for Hernandez’s return, but the team clearly saw enough damage to sit the 32-year-old slugger down for the next 10 days.

Though the 24-11 Dodgers currently hold the best record in baseball (by a margin of half a game over the second-place Padres), their outfield production has been more good than great on the whole. Hernandez has been the best of the bunch, slashing an excellent .315/.333/.600 with nine homers. Andy Pages has been strong as well, with a .277/.347/.491 output in regular playing time. The rest of L.A.’s outfield play has been suspect. Free agent acquisition Michael Conforto is out to a woeful .146/.285/.243 start. Neither Chris Taylor nor Tommy Edman has hit well during limited playing time in the outfield. Edman’s broader .252/.295/.523 slash is still quite solid overall, but he’s also on the 10-day injured list due to an ankle issue.

Edman might’ve been the top choice to fill in for Hernandez were he healthy, but the Dodgers will instead give more looks to Outman now — particularly against right-handed pitchers, given his notable career platoon splits. The 28-year-old Outman had a nice debut showing back in 2022 but has struggled mightily in the majors since that time, due in large part to a sky-high 33% strikeout rate in his career. He’s hitting .254/.322/.508 in Triple-A right now, but that’s coupled with a grim 36.3% strikeout rate in 146 plate appearances.

The Dodgers have also scarcely played Enrique Hernandez in the outfield this year, but he’s certainly no stranger to playing there and would make for a natural righty complement in a platoon setup. Taylor would be an on-paper fit as a fellow righty with outfield experience, but he hasn’t hit at all dating back to 2024 and has actually been even less effective against lefties than he has righties.

Dodgers Designate Yoendrys Gomez For Assignment

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The Dodgers have designated right-hander Yoendrys Gomez for assignment, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports. His spot on the roster will go to fellow righty J.P. Feyereisen, who’s been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers claimed Feyereisen off waivers from the D-backs last week.

Los Angeles claimed Gomez off waivers from the Yankees late last month. The 25-year-old once ranked among New York’s top prospects but hasn’t gotten much of a look in the majors. A move to the National League West didn’t change that. Gomez appeared in three games for L.A., impressing in his first appearance (three scoreless frames, four strikeouts against the Pirates) before being trounced by the Marlins for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings across his next two outings.

In a total of 27 2/3 big league frames, Gomez now owns a 4.88 earned run average. He’s fanned 19.1% of his opponents against an ugly 13.7% walk rate. Both the Yankees and Dodgers had little recourse but to DFA Gomez when he struggled, as he’s out of minor league options and can’t simply be sent to Triple-A; he’d first need to clear waivers in order to be sent down.

Though the big league track record is minimal, it’s at least possible that Gomez will draw a look from another club. Granted, nearly every team in baseball passed on him the last time he was on waivers — the Dodgers were 28th in waiver priority at the time and still won the claim — but Gomez has a nice minor league track record. The 6’3″, 212-pound righty has near-identical ERAs of 3.67 and 3.64 in Triple-A and Double-A, respectively, and those have come in nearly identical samples of 83 1/3 innings and 81 2/3 innings.

Gomez missed most of the 2021-22 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Coupled with the canceled 2020 minor league season, that’s cut into his ability to build a more extensive track record in the minors. Still, the innings he’s thrown have generally been quality ones. Gomez punched out 27% of his Triple-A opponents last year — a nice number that was backed by a healthy 13.5% swinging-strike rate. Command was not and never has been a strong point — he walked 11.3% of opponents in 2024 and has a career 10.8% mark in the minors — but he’s managed to find success in spite of that flaw.

Gomez has worked primarily as a starting pitcher in the minors. A team in need of some rotation depth, perhaps one with some flexibility to install him as a long man in the bullpen, could feasibly take a look via a small trade or waiver claim. If the Dodgers manage to pass him through waivers unclaimed, he’d stick with the organization in Triple-A as a depth arm, as Gomez does not have enough service time or the prior outright assignment required to elect free agency after clearing waivers.

Ross Stripling Retires

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Right-handed pitcher Ross Stripling announced his retirement this morning over social media. He signs off after nine big league seasons with the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Giants, and Athletics.

“After 13 seasons and full of tremendous pride and gratitude, it’s time to hang up the cleats. I never could have imagined the experiences and memories I’d be a part of. They exceeded every hope that my younger self could have dreamt for my baseball career,” Stripling wrote. “It never could have been possible without my family and friends. I also want to give a huge thank you to all my coaches and teammates over the years. I had so much love and support along the way, and I’m thankful to everyone that was a part of it in any form or fashion. All of you helped me be the best baseball player I could be. This has been an unbelievable honor, and I feel incredibly lucky to be so fulfilled and content with leaving the game behind. Now, l’m excited to be home and begin the next chapter of life with my amazing family.”

Stripling spent most of his professional career in the Dodgers organization. A fifth-round draft pick in 2012, he worked his way up the system over the next four years, overcoming early-career Tommy John surgery to make his MLB debut as a member of the Opening Day rotation in 2016. Over four and a half big league seasons as both a starter and reliever for the Dodgers, he pitched more than 400 innings with a 3.68 ERA. He was an All-Star in 2018 and pitched for L.A. in the playoffs in 2016, ’17, and ’19, including three appearances in the 2017 World Series. Unfortunately, he struggled in 2020 and was traded ahead of the deadline, but he still earned a World Series ring for his performance with the Dodgers over the first half of the season.

The first season and a half of Stripling’s Blue Jays tenure weren’t anything to write home about, but his 2022 campaign in Toronto was arguably the best of his career. Across 32 games (24 starts), he set career-highs in wins (10) and FanGraphs WAR (3.0) and career-lows in ERA (3.01) and walk rate (3.7%). He would then turn that performance into a two-year $25 million guarantee from the Giants in free agency.

The two years on that contract would prove to be the final seasons of Stripling’s playing career. He pitched poorly for San Francisco in 2023, and much like what happened the last time he struggled so badly, he was eventually shipped out of town. The Giants sent him to the A’s during the 2023-24 offseason, and he had a similarly rough season in Oakland. All told, he pitched to a 5.68 ERA in 44 games (25 starts) over his two years in the Bay Area. While his big league track record helped him land a minor league deal with the Royals this past winter, he was granted his release after failing to make their Opening Day roster.

Stripling finishes his MLB career with a 4.17 ERA in 846 1/3 innings of work. He collected 40 wins, 11 holds, and four saves, while racking up 741 strikeouts. MLBTR congratulates Stripling on a successful major league tenure and wishes him all the best in whatever comes next.

Dodgers Recall Hyeseong Kim

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3:00pm: The Dodgers have now made it official. Kim has been recalled with Edman placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 30, due to right ankle inflammation.

11:25am: The Dodgers are recalling infielder Hyeseong Kim, reports Dodgers Daily. Kim will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He is already on the 40-man roster but a corresponding move will be needed to get him onto the active roster.

Kim, 26, was a notable free agent this winter. He had hit .304/.364/.403 over eight season in the KBO while bouncing around to multiple positions, mostly the middle infield. There wasn’t a ton of power there, but he seemed like an intriguing contact-based utility guy.

The Dodgers somewhat surprisingly won the bidding with a three-year, $12.5MM deal. At the time of the signing, they already had a middle infield group consisting of Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, which made it a somewhat curious fit. However, Lux was quickly traded to the Reds, which widened Kim’s path to playing time.

But Kim was optioned to the minors on March 11th, a few days before the Dodgers were travelling to Japan for the Tokyo Series. The middle infield playing time has largely gone to Betts and Edman, with Rojas and Enrique Hernández chipping in occasionally.

Kim has been getting regular playing time at Triple-A, having stepped to the plate 131 times over 28 games. His 7.6% walk rate and 24.4% strikeout rate are both a bit worse than par but he has five home runs, leading to a .252/.328/.470 line and 105 wRC+. He has also stolen 13 bases without getting caught while splitting his time between second base, shortstop and center field.

His promotion might not be entirely about his own Triple-A performance. Edman has missed the club’s last two games due to right ankle discomfort. He has not yet been placed on the injured list but perhaps Kim’s promotion indicates that the Dodgers will make that move today. Edman hasn’t played since Tuesday, so an IL stint could be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could return in a week if he heals up in that time.

If that’s the case, the Dodgers would have Kim, Rojas and Hernandez as options to cover the second base spot. It’s unclear how the playing time would be distributed in that scenario but Kim should have a chance to make his major league debut at some point this week.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Dodgers Acquire Ryan Loutos, Claim J.P. Feyereisen

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The Dodgers have acquired right-hander Ryan Loutos from the Cardinals in exchange for cash and claimed righty J.P. Feyereisen off waivers from the Diamondbacks, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The Loutos trade was previously reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Dodgers moved righties Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech to the 60-day injured list to open 40-man roster spots for the two pickups.

Loutos, 26, has had a somewhat unusual trajectory to the big leagues, as explored in this profile from Goold last year. Due to his computer science background, the Cards hired him to develop an app to help minor leaguers use data, and let him pitch as well. “I know what I need to do to improve. I know what I could do,” Loutos said. “But I also know from their shoes what they see: ‘OK, let him play for a while. See what happens. Worst-case scenario, we maybe offer him a job in the front office. Best-case scenario, maybe he’s in the big leagues someday.’”

So far, the playing part has worked out okay. He made his major league debut last year, though it was brief. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings over three appearances. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has logged 134 innings on the farm with a 5.10 earned run average, 24.2% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate.

Feyereisen, 32, has a much longer big league track record. In 2021, he tossed 56 innings between the Brewers and Rays with a 2.73 ERA. He managed to top that performance in 2022, tossing 24 1/3 scoreless innings, with a 29.1% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. However, a shoulder injury intervened and stopped him from building on those numbers.

He underwent shoulder surgery and was traded to the Dodgers ahead of the 2023 season. He hasn’t been able to fully re-establish himself in the majors since then. He eventually spent that entire 2023 season on the IL, not making an official appearance anywhere. The Dodgers shuttled him to Triple-A and back in 2024. He only got to pitch 11 big league innings, with an 8.18 ERA in those. His 5.48 ERA in Triple-A wasn’t especially impressive either.

He was outrighted off the roster last year, allowing him to elect free agency and sign a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks coming into 2025. He got called up a couple of weeks ago after posing a 0.96 ERA in Triple-A. He then allowed two earned runs in two innings for the Snakes before getting designated for assignment and put on waivers.

For the Dodgers, they are likely happy to have some fresh arms, one of which they are already familiar with. With Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both on the IL due to shoulder inflammation, they are down to a four-man rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. The club is keeping Sasaki and Yamamoto on the weekly schedule the pitchers are accustomed to from their time in Japan.

That situation, plus plenty of other injuries, have led to a great deal of creativity in cobbling the staff together. Pitchers like Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller and Ben Casparius have made spot starts. Yoendrys Gómez, recently claimed off waivers from the Yankees, is working a long relief role. Both Loutos and Feyereisen have options, so the Dodgers are adding some arms with some roster flexibility. The team is about to start a stretch of playing ten straight games. After one off-day, they will play another nine straight.

To open spots for those two, Kopech and Treinen hit the 60-day IL. Kopech’s move isn’t especially surprising. He’s been on the 15-day IL all year long due to a shoulder impingement and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Even if he were to start one now, he would need a few weeks as a sort of delayed spring training. He could be reinstated from the IL in a couple of weeks but that doesn’t seem to be likely.

The move for Treinen is more notable. He started the season healthy but landed on the 15-day IL April 19th due to right forearm tightness. This transfer to the 60-day IL indicates the Dodgers don’t expect him back before the middle of June. He is 36 years old, turning 37 in June, and has a recent history of arm injuries. He only tossed five innings in 2022 due to shoulder problems and then underwent surgery which wiped out his 2023 campaign.

He got back on track last year with a 1.93 ERA in 46 2/3 innings, plus another 12 1/3 postseason innings with a 2.19 ERA, helping the Dodgers win the World Series. The team believed in that bounceback enough to give him a two-year, $22MM deal in free agency, the largest deal for a reliever going into his age-37 season or older since Mariano Rivera’s deal with the Yankees back in 2010.

Shortly after Treinen landed on the IL last month, manager Dave Roberts described the injury as a “low-grade sprain of the forearm” and downplayed the severity by saying “we’re in the dodged-a-bullet category.” It’s unclear if Roberts was just masking the extent of the injury or if something changed, but Treinen now appears to be slated for an absence of at least a couple of months.

Photo courtesy of John Geliebter, Imagn Images.

Tyler Glasnow To Be Shut Down 10 to 14 Days

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The Dodgers placed right-hander Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day injured list due to shoulder inflammation this week. It seems he’ll be out longer than that. Manager Dave Roberts tells Sonja Chen of MLB.com that Glasnow will be shut down from throwing for 10 to 14 days and will be re-evaluated from there.

It’s a different outlook compared to just two days ago. When Glasnow landed on the IL on Monday, Roberts downplayed the severity. He said that Glasnow was merely dealing with “overall body soreness” but didn’t have anything structurally wrong with his shoulder.

A shutdown period of 10 to 14 days means that Glasnow will be gone longer than that. Even if he’s cleared to resume throwing at that time, he would have to ramp back up and perhaps make a few rehab starts in the minor leagues.

Glasnow has a reputation for strong work on a rate basis but he’s never logged bulk innings. He got to 134 frames last year, a personal high despite it being his ninth major league season. Elbow problems, including 2021 Tommy John surgery, have often been the culprit. He’s also had some back and oblique issues over the years, with this shoulder inflammation the latest problem.

It seems the Dodgers will have to assume that they won’t have Glasnow for at least a few weeks, perhaps longer, depending on how he responds in the next 10 to 14 days. They started the season with Glasnow in the rotation alongside Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Dustin May.

The group has thinned since then. Snell hit the IL after just two starts, due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The Dodgers also thought that was a relatively minor issue, though Snell was eventually shut down due to ongoing soreness. Glasnow is now in a somewhat similar boat, with an uncertain path back from a shutdown period.

Tony Gonsolin started the season on the IL due to a back injury but was reinstated today. He gives the club a fourth starter alongside May, Yamamoto and Sasaki. The Dodgers are off tomorrow, which will give the staff a bit of a breather, but they play ten straight after that.

Ben Casparius and Yoendrys Gómez are both currently in the bullpen and capable of working multiple innings. Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller, Landon Knack and Matt Sauer are currently on optional assignment but have been up with the big league club at times to help out and could do so again.

Clayton Kershaw is on a rehab assignment but is also on the 60-day IL, meaning he can’t rejoin the club for a few more weeks. Shohei Ohtani is theoretically going to return to the mound at some point this year, though it’s unclear how the Dodgers plan to have him ramp up while also serving as the designated hitter, or when that will be. He underwent UCL surgery late in 2023 and didn’t pitch last year. He also required arthroscopic shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm just after the club’s World Series victory in the fall.

It’s possible the club will be getting Glasnow, Snell, Kershaw and Ohtani back into the mix in the coming weeks or months but there’s not much clarity in there and the team will have to patch things together until then, likely with some spot starts or bullpen games, or perhaps one of their depth guys will get a longer rotation audition. The Dodgers are also keeping Yamamoto and Sasaki on the weekly pitching schedule preferred in Japan, which will increase the likelihood of creative solutions.

Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

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