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Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts recently gave updates about the status of his team — particularly that of the injury-trodden pitching staff. Just like what happened in 2024, the pitching crew has been hit with a slew of injuries to start the new campaign for the reigning champions.
At the moment, there are 11 Dodger pitchers pitchers on the shelf, namely, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Evan Phillips, Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, and Michael Kopech. Roberts singled out Glasnow's injury update and MVP Shohei Ohtani's potential return on the mound.
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It was reported that Glasnow will return to mound duties before Snell and Ohtani, even as early as this week. The 2024 All-Star has been out of action since April 28 after what was described as "shoulder inflammation." Glasnow only made five starts and posted a 1-0 record with a 4.50 ERA before hitting the shelf.
On the other hand, the Dodgers are taking precious time in bringing back Ohtani from his long layoff in pitching duties. The last game that Ohtani pitched was back on August 23, 2023 against the Cincinnati Reds when he was still a member of the Los Angeles Angels. Since being diagnosed with a UCL tear in his throwing arm, Ohtani has remained as a full-time hitter.
Dodgers' worrisome pitching problems
The Los Angeles Dodgers' title-defense bid has been hit with significant roadblocks with the season having just begun. The team throwing corpses in what has been an injury-riddled pitching staff that saw major names hitting the IL, resulting in severely underwhelming results on the mound.
The Dodgers own the seventh-worst ERA across the majors at 4.22. LA, along with the Diamondbacks, are the only teams above .500 that are currently in the bottom ten of team ERA.
The pitching crew has largely been carried by starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has maintained his prime form since the back end of last season. The Japanese superstar holds a 5-3 record and an impressive 1.86 ERA with 68 strikeouts across ten games. For his scintillating displays on the mound, he was selected as the NL Pitcher of the Month for the months of March-April.
Another big factor that has masked the deficiencies of the team's pitching staff has been the batting order. The lineup powered by Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, leads the league in batting average at .268 and are the second-best in MLB in terms of slugging, on-base percentage, and OPS.
