In a year where the Dodgers’ pitching staff has faced a plethora of health problems , the one saving grace the team could look to was Gavin Stone.
Stone leads the pitching staff in games started with 25 and has arguably been their best pitcher all year. The 25-year-old has a 3.53 ERA and 116 strikeouts.
However, the Dodgers took another blow to the rotation on Friday when the team announced they had placed Stone on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
In corresponding moves, the team optioned Michael Petersen while recalling Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski.
Stone’s injury comes at a time when many Dodger pitchers are on the shelf. Stone becomes the 10th pitcher currently on the injured list, joining the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Joe Kelly, River Ryan and Brusdar Graterol.
With only 22 games left in the regular season, the Dodgers’ potential playoff rotation looks bleaker by the day and the updates are not encouraging.
Glasnow was the ace of the Dodgers in the first half but has dealt with injuries ever since the All-Star break. He was placed on the IL with lower back tightness just before the break and made four starts when he returned, just to end up back on the injured list with elbow tendinitis.
That was back on Aug. 11, and almost a month later Glasnow has still not thrown off a mound. Per Bill Plunkett of the OC Register, Glasnow has thrown up to 120 feet and plans to throw off a mound sometime this weekend.
After being out for nearly three months with a strained rotator cuff, Yamamoto is set to rejoin the rotation next Tuesday.
Even with Yamamoto coming back, there is no guarantee how stretched out he will be. He made two rehab starts but pitched a combined five innings.
The Dodgers are hoping to build Yamamoto up so he can give any type of production come playoff time, and manager Dave Roberts expressed that sentiment when talking to the media.
“I think the stuff will be there,” Roberts said. “I’m not sure about how the command is going to be. So I think the way we’re looking at it is we’re going to get four starts from him, and if we can log four starts and build up volume, we’ll be ready to go beyond that.”
