Another Injured Dodgers Starting Pitcher Might Be Lost For The Season

The Los Angeles Dodgers have used 17 different starting pitchers this season, the uncertainty around their rotation the only thing standing between them and a clear path to the World Series.

That path somehow became even less clear Friday, when the team placed right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

Stone, 25, was the only member of the Dodgers’ season-opening rotation who had not missed time due to injury. He was 11-5 with a 3.53 earned-run average in a team-leading 25 starts and 140.1 innings.

Now, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters Friday, it’s unclear whether Stone will pitch again in 2024.

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Gavin Stone, who was placed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation, will be shut down from throwing for about 10 days. Andrew Friedman said he’s not sure yet if he will be able to return this year: “There’s just so much unknown around it.”

— Rowan Kavner (@RowanKavner) September 6, 2024

“There’s just so much unknown around it,” Friedman said.

Stone will not pick up a baseball for 10 days, Friedman said, as the Dodgers recalled starters Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Knack, 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 starts, is taking the place of left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who’s out with a bone spur in his left big toe. Knack is starting Friday against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium.

Wrobleski, a 23-year-old left-hander, was hardly on the Dodgers’ depth chart when the season began. He’s been pressed to make six starts, going 1-2 with a 6.82 ERA, and figures to get a long runway with Stone sidelined.

Los Angeles had been counting on the returns to health of Kershaw (who missed all of the first half recovering from offseason shoulder surgery), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (lost to a rotator cuff injury in June) to join a staff led by Opening Day starter Tyler Glasnow and trade-deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty.

Now, both Glasnow (elbow) and Kershaw are on the injured list again, casting doubt over who will be able to take the ball for the Dodgers in October. The Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies share the best record in Major League Baseball at 84-56.

Their ranks of injured starters also includes Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan, all of whom are recovering from Tommy John surgery and aren’t expected back until 2025.

Rookies Kyle Hurt and River Ryan both had brief cameos this year before needing season-ending Tommy John surgeries themselves.

For now, the Dodgers’ rotation consists of Knack, Wrobleski, Flaherty, Bobby Miller, and Walker Buehler. Yamamoto is scheduled to make his return Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs.

For all their strengths, the Dodgers’ rotation poses an even more glaring weakness without Stone. The main question mark surrounding the Dodgers is an unusually dire one for such a good team: who will be healthy enough to start for them in October?