GLENDALE, Ariz. — The last time we saw the Los Angeles Dodgers, their pitching was in tatters. Their starting staff was injured and could only muster short stints. A low-budget bullpen was stretched to the limit.
Now, after an offseason shopping spree coupled with the pending return of some veteran starters from injury, the Dodgers should no longer have that problem.
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“It’s just great now that we have such depth,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in an interview Saturday prior to a Cactus League game at Camelback Ranch. “Hopefully, those bullpen games should be a thing of the past.”
Last October, the Dodgers overall 4.50 ERA was ninth among the 12 playoff teams. Their starters were even worse at a 5.25 ERA—11th of the 12 teams—averaging less than four innings a start. A total of 60 innings in 16 games.
Still, they won the World Series in five games over the New York Yankees, needing two bullpen games at the end to seal the victory. The Dodgers had the worst ERA for a winning World Series team since the 2004 Boston Red Sox.
“Obviously last year we saw what could happen,” said Clayton Kershaw, who will eventually return from foot and knee surgery in pursuit of his 3,000th strikeout—he’s 32 away. “We were still throwing bullpen games in the postseason. That’s not the recipe.”
As far as postseason starters were concerned, only Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler were healthy. And the latter two left via free agency, Flaherty back to Detroit and Buehler to Boston.
Now, though, the Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches. They signed Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki as free agents. The have Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Kershaw returning from injury. They’ll have Yamamoto in his second big league season, with hopes for better health. And Shohei Ohtani himself is on the back fields, throwing bullpens and working to return.
The Dodgers also added free agent relievers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to tighten up the back of the bullpen.
“It’s amazing. You have to give a lot of credit to our ownership for going after it,” said Kershaw, who won’t be back until June at the earliest. “We have so many talented arms. This year we might have overdone it with too many starters, but that’s a good thing.”
To Kershaw’s point, the Dodgers spared no expense. They are spending $199 million of their record $392.5 million Major League Baseball payroll (by luxury tax rules) on pitching. Kershaw, in his 18th and possibly last season, is making $7.5 million after signing a contract earlier this month.
“Everything feels right in the world when you have Kersh back in Dodger blue,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “We can’t say we’re ever done. That’s not in our DNA. But we feel really good about the talent under this roof right now.”
Ohtani has $10 million in deferred money as part of his $70 million-a-year contract, meaning the Dodgers are assessed only $46 million for tax purposes. The two-way player is tuning up for a possible May return to the mound after his second reconstructive right elbow surgery. In his third bullpen session of the spring on Saturday, he tossed 25 crisp pitches, throwing as hard as 95 mph, Roberts said. Ohtani didn’t pitch last season, but still won the National League MVP by completing MLB’s first 50-homer, 50-steal season as a designated hitter.
“I was able to throw with some intensity in my last bullpen session,” Ohtani told reporters through his interpreter. “I want to throw with even more intensity during my next bullpen session. It’s just matching the real and the feel to get a sense of it.”
You’ll recall Ohtani also tore the labrum in his left shoulder sliding into the second base on an attempted steal during Game 2 of the World Series. He played the rest of the series effectively with one healthy arm and then had immediate surgery. That injury has healed, and he’ll take his first in-game at-bats as early as next week, Roberts said.
As far as pitching is concerned, Friedman said there was no timeline for his return.
“We’re not going to set an arbitrary date,” he said. “We’ll just let him continue his progression.”
The Dodgers open the regular season in Asia again, this time in Japan’s Tokyo Dome against the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19. Ohtani should be ready to hit by then, Roberts said. The Dodgers break camp and head to Japan after a game in Arizona on March 11.
Ohtani said he didn’t have a sense yet when he might be ready to pitch in a big-league game. He last pitched on Aug. 23, 2023, during his sixth and final season with the Los Angeles Angels.
“As long as I hit my benchmarks—my bullpen and batting practice sessions—I’m confident I’ll be on schedule,” he said. “Again, always paying close attention to how I feel.”
Roberts is not sure about the overall rotation at this point, but he’s pointing at Yamamoto and Sasaki pitching against the Cubs in Japan. Last year, Yamamoto started the season’s second game against the San Diego Padres in Korea and struggled. Sasaki is expected to make his first spring start this week, Roberts said.
It should be quite a spectacle having the three former Nippon Professional Baseball greats and teammates on Japan’s victorious 2023 Japanese World Baseball Classic squad return home as Dodgers.
This is happening only months before Ichiro Suzuki will be the first Japanese player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27.
“I’m thrilled about it,” Roberts said. “I think it’s great for baseball.”
Kershaw said he’d love to make the trip, but he wasn’t sure it will happen. He’ll be on his own schedule working back into form and is expected to go on the 60-day injury list when the season starts. Depending on injuries and the performance of other starters, Roberts acknowledged it might be difficult to work Kershaw back in the rotation.
Kershaw, 36, isn’t sure how long he wants to play, but he does want to finish his career as a Dodger.
“I didn’t put enough merit on that during my entire career,” he said. “But playing with one team, it is special.”
Last year he didn’t make his first start until July 25 after recovering from offseason surgery on his left shoulder. His season then ended early because of the toe injury, and he missed the playoffs. He’s tired of this pattern of injury, surgery and recovery, but he didn’t want his illustrious career to end like that.
“It’s been year-to-year for a long time now,” he said. “We’ll just see how it goes at the end of this season.”
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