Ever since the end of the NLDS, all reports were that the Dodgers needed to add 3 starting pitchers: two top of the rotation, and one reclamation project. Okay, they signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto and traded for Tyler Glasnow for top of the rotation, and have now signed their reclamation project, James Paxton. Mission accomplished.
Last year, AF/BG were soundly criticized because they did not have enough experienced pitching, and had to rely on kids who were not quite ready. End result…disaster in the NLDS. You can say it was the offense (and it was), but the starting pitching was horrendous. The Dodgers were not totally blown out because of their stalwart bullpen.
Now the Dodgers have the following starting pitching:
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- Tyler Glasnow
- Walker Buehler
- Bobby Miller
- James Paxton
- Emmet Sheehan/Gavin Stone
- Gavin Stone/Emmet Sheehan
- Landon Knack
- Michael Grove
- Kyle Hurt
- Nick Frasso (non 40 man)
- River Ryan (non 40 man)
That is a 6 man rotation with a full 6 man behind them. Ryan Yarbrough still wants to start, so perhaps he should be added.
Some are having misgivings about Paxton because that is taking away potential starts from the kids. Maybe the Dodgers’ brass is not as enamored by the kids as the fans are. Maybe the Dodgers see them as depth rather than front line starting pitchers (for 2024).
I am also not convinced that the kids will stay as starters and not find themselves in the bullpen. Both Sheehan and Stone were more effective as relievers. Grove is an emergency starter. Hurt is probably more suited for the bullpen. Knack probably needs to prove last year was not an aberration. Frasso and Ryan are not ready. Isn’t that too much wishful hoping? This is not the year for wishful hoping.
The Dodgers undoubtedly believed that they could go with one of the kids in the rotation, but not two. It is not as if I believe that AF/BG are infallible. But I know they have a better understanding as to where each of the young pitchers fit in their overall plans.
Some wanted the Dodgers to sign Lucas Giolito, Michael Wacha, or Seth Lugo as the reclamation project. The problem with that is they were all given multiyear deals, and the kids would have been blocked even more.
The Dodgers wanted a LHSP, and it probably came down to Paxton and Hyun-jin Ryu. They chose Paxton. Some will agree, others will not.
What are the Dodgers getting with Paxton? He is a 35 year old LHSP who at times was exceptional, and at other times, not very good at all. He has never been a big innings eating pitcher. 160.1 IP is his career high, and he has had one other year with 150.2. But with a 6-man rotation, he does not need to be. He has also been a very good strikeout pitcher.
He was a sophomore draft eligible pitcher from the University of Kentucky, and was a first round pick by Toronto in 2009 (37th overall). It was believed at the time that Paxton, who is Canadian, would sign with Toronto. He did not sign. A year later, he was drafted by Seattle in the 4th round and signed.
He has a four pitch repertoire: 95 MPH Fastball (57%), 81 MPH Curve (19%), 86 MPH Cutter (16%), and 84 MPG Change (6%).
Paxton has made 156 starts over the course of his 10-year career. He has compiled a very respectable career 3.69 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 1.22 WHIP and 112 ERA+. He also averaged just under 10 strikeouts per nine innings. Also very respectable.
Paxton was out for all of 2022 due to TJ surgery, after only one start and 1.1 IP in 2021. He had a hamstring issue at the beginning of the season. He made his season debut on May 12 against St. Louis. He pitched fairly well for his first game in more than 2 years. He had pitched 21.2 innings since the start of the 2020 season. He completed 5.0 innings, surrendering 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 BB. He also had 9 strikeouts. The 2 runs were from a 2-run 2-out HR in the first inning by Nolan Arenado. He retired the last 7 batters in order, including 5 via strikeout.
Through his first 16 starts in 2023, he posted a 3.34 ERA, 3.69 xFIP and 1.14 WHIP. He struck out 26.3 percent of the batters he faced and walked only 6.5 percent. Those numbers are really solid.
Paxton had a 10-game stretch last season where he posted a 2.73 ERA, 3.46 xFIP, 0.98 WHIP, 29.1 K%, 6.4 BB%.
His last 6 starts were not good at all. But it could very well have been that he hit a wall, and he pushed himself to the point he injured his knee. He ended the season on the IL with right knee inflammation. Do not know that to be true, but it seems reasonable that he hit a wall after nearly 3 years with no pitching.
Paxton is hoping for positive results like Tyler Anderson, Andrew Heaney, Evan Phillips, and Ryan Brasie, who are all successful graduates of the Mark Prior Pitching Lab. Jake McGee and Yency Almonte both improved once becoming a Dodger. Noah Syndergaard is the exception, but he only came to the Dodgers because he thought that the Mark Prior could get him to throw 100 again. That is all he wanted, and it did not happen. Can’t win them all over.
The Dodgers will be getting a veteran pitcher who can become an effective #5 starting pitcher. He is not going to give the Dodgers 180 IP. He is not a CY candidate. He may tire or get injured again. But he will give the Dodgers more starter depth, allowing the kids to build their resumes up either at OKC or in the bullpen, and be ready when the opportunity arises, as it undoubtedly will.
With Paxton now in the rotation, and with Walker Buehler probably starting the season on the IL, that will give Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone the golden opportunity to compete for the #6 spot.
$11MM is not a lot for the Dodgers. It is $.5MM more than Pittsburgh is paying Aroldis Chapman. It is $3MM less than Jack Flaherty.
If you believe that 2-3 Dodger kid pitchers are ready to be MLB starters, you are probably not very happy with the signing. However, if you believe that none of the kids (except Bobby Miller), have proven they can be MLB starters, then adding a veteran #5 starter and allowing further development for the kids, you are probably not at all upset. I fall into the latter category.
Paxton has upside, but has been very unreliable the last 5 years. Although his salary is only roughly $12 million, it will also trigger a Cohen tax of another $13 million. I would have preferred Ryu to Paxton, but would probably have went with the in-house guys plus Kershaw. Between Sheehan, Stone, Yarbrough, Grove, Ryan, Knack and Frasso they should be able to find a 5th and 6th starter. And these guys are not very young, mostly 24-27 years old already.
It is going to be a very interesting spring training. Hoskins signs for two years with the Brewers. A couple of teams, one of them being the Pirates, are interested in Thor. Miguel Sano signed a minor league deal with the Angels who kept busy and signed Matt Moore to a one-year deal. Bellinger still out there.
Besides the two regular season games to be played in Korea, the Dodgers and Padres with both play two exhibition games against Korean teams. One an All-Star team and the other against one of the KBO teams.
James Paxton has the arm of a 28-year-old. That arm has been used like the proverbial old lady who only drove her car to church on Sunday. He has never had what we would call a “Full Season.” As Jeff has articulated, he has had a multitude of injuries. While I think I would have preferred Ryu, maybe he wanted a two-year deal. I don’t know, but this is a pure “roll of the dice” for AF. Statistically speaking, Paxton is due for one good season… isn’t he? Isn’t he? Even blind squirrels find nuts, and James is due. In a 6-man rotation, maybe he can give the Dodgers 120 innings in 20 to 22 starts. If not, maybe one of the youngsters steps up and takes over. It’s ONLY 25 Million, after all. Go James!
If they stay on a starter track, Frasso and Ryan are likely a year away. Whether Stone and Sheehan are ready to start depends upon the development of their secondary pitches. Knack could be a surprise… in fact, I am looking for a good spring from him. We have to trust that the Paxton deal is like the Anderson, Heaney, and Thor deals: Some work – some don’t!
What came first? The chicken or the egg? This move would not have been made without the front offices’ blessing or prompting. It really doesn’t make any difference where it began. It happened and it’s not a bad thing.
I agree. Except that chicken egg thing. What came first were microbes that developed mitochondria, but that is probably a subject for another thread.
Paxton could work out quite well for the Dodgers. They recognize the days of 30 starts and 200 innings is gone. For them anyway. Complete Games is no longer valued. The Dodgers, out of necessity not choice, had 17 different pitchers make starts last season. None made more than 24. The same thing will happen again but this year someone like Caleb Ferguson, 7 starts, hopefully won’t be needed as a starter. What might be fun would be a late summer game at home against a team whom we will score 10 to have a starter game using the kids. Knack, Frasso, Ryan, Grove and Hurt closing. I’d pay to see that.
The 6 man. Coming to a juggernaut near you.
You say Buehler will not be ready so Sheehan/Stone can compete for the #6 spot. Wouldn’t that be #5, assuming:
Glasnow
Yamamoto
Miller
Paxton
?
I think Buehler will be in the rotation, but on an innings limit once the season starts. He was throwing great in his rehab assignment last September in OKC. I see no reason why he shouldn’t be ready.
The Dodgers seem pretty intent on signing Sasaki for 25 and I don’t blame them. His stuff is electric. If they do, then the 25 rotation would be Ohtani, Yamamoto, Sasaki, Glasnow and Miller. May and Gonsolin will be back and maybe AF resigns Buehler. Where are the openings for all these young pitchers who will be 25-26 years old? A Couple like Hurt will be bullpen candidates but you just can’t keep them all in OKC.
With Jang in the wings!
Sasaki to the Dodgers is not a certainty. He may not want to play in the shadows of Shohei and Yamamoto. (Then again, maybe he like that.)
Anyway, with both Yamamoto and Shohei, it’s sure to be six-man rotation. Probablyl should be with just Yamamoto.
The sure things are now Yamamoto, Glasnow, Miller, Buhler and Paxton. Three of the those guys have a habit of getting hurt, so there’s bound to be opportunities for the prospects
Sheehan seems mostly likely to round out the sixth-man rotation, but several others could be in the mix. Maybe somebody like River Ryan adds a sweeper and breaks through. Maybe Stone figures it out. A lot of competiion.
The cliche holds that “you can’t have too much pitching,” but perhaps the pitching could be adjusted to bring in a top RP like Tanner Scott or Devin Williams.
8 man rotation?
Competing for the #6 for when Buehler returns. With Buehler out, they will probably be the #5 and #6. I should have made that more clear.
I like the Paxton signing. I thought the Dodgers needed one more veteran SP once it was mentioned that Buehler would not break camp with the Dodgers and instead go to extended ST. I was good with either Ryu or Paxton and it gives the Dodgers time to let the youngsters settle in and see who “rises” to the occasion.
I tend to agree with Mark, who has been on the Landon Knack promotion tour for some time now. I think he will come to ST ready to show his stuff after seeing the likes of Grove, Stone, Miller and Sheehan promote to the big leagues last year.
What AF has done this off season is nothing short of amazing. Acquiring big names the like of Ohtani, Yammamato, Glasnow and Hernandez while also adding to the MiB pipeline with the acquisitions of Ferris and Hope has shown all MLB baseball fans what we, as Dodger fans, already know. AF is the best in the business and has the built the best Front Office (scouting, development, international acquisition etc.).
Ownership has pushed their chips to the middle of the table and have went all in. AF has outbid/maneuvered other GM’s and has assembled (at least on paper) the best Dodger team in many, many years. It will soon be up the players to come together, play as a team of destiny and bring home a WS championship so LA can have a parade down Figueroa.
If there are any more moves to come it might be the signing of Ryan Brasier.
Let’s roll!
The NL is asking for it and by God we’ll give it them.
The whole world is holding their breath and wanting to see a LAD World Series Championship that does not have an asterisk next to it.
I see more guys wearing a Dodgers cap at the gym than ever before. I’ve even see guys who wore a cap of other teams now wearing a Dodgers cap. Like I said, the whole world is caught up in JAPANESE MANIA.
TM
The asterisk should be for the 2017 WS where the Dodgers were cheated out of a championship.
There is no asterisk for 2020. Quite possibly the hardest WS to ever to have been won.
I’m not sure why you would say that? When you only have a 60 game schedule, obviously the pitchers don’t have enough time to wear out and break down, which pretty much seems to be the norm for our boys year in and year out.
Same rules for ALL other teams….
40 man is full. They would have to release or DFA someone on that roster to be able to sign Brasier.
Some candidates available to open up a spot . If they can get Brasier they will find a way. Be it a DFA or another trade .
Do not like the Paxton deal. Too many injury concerns for that much money. But hey, not my money.😀
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beltre, Mauer and Helton now in the Hall and Mattingly fans are not happy. Mauer played 15 years, Mattingly 14. Mattingly has a lower WAR. He won one batting title and one MVP award. Mauer won three batting titles and one MVP. Donnie had a .307 career BA. Mauer’s is .306. Difference is catchers usually do not hit .300. Don could still get elected via the Golden Age committee. Will be the only way Sheffield makes it. This was his last year on the writer’s ballot, and he wasn’t close. Billy Wagner should make it next year in his last year on the ballot. He was just short of 75%. Shoo in next year is Ichiro.
I joined at rotisserie league at work in the late 1980s. We had our own scoring system, and we’d start the season with a draft. Great fun.
One guy named Bob proposed a new rule: that each team be allowed to keep one player from their previous roster. Bob had Mattingly in his glorious (but too brief) prime.
We called it “the Mattingly Rule” and overwhelming voted it down. If it had passed, I would have held on to Eric Davis. A comet of a career, burning bright and then fizzling out….
To win the first best-of-five series that’s been our nemesis the last two years we need 27 innings from our staff. I believe Paxton is capable of providing 4-5 of them. That’s all that matters.
Looks like the Cold Stove is finally starting to warm up with a few signings here and there league wide. About time it’s almost February.
Looks like we are going with a 6 man rotation which is probably best for the long haul. Hard to imagine back in the day when teams had 4 man rotations.
Can’t wait for spring training to begin. At least we can see some action.
Ryu is a sentimental choice, but Paxton is the smarter signing. Hyun-Jin has a lot of innings in his arm going back to his age 19 season in Korea (over 200 innings). His FB velocity has been on a linear downward trend along with his ERA and FIP the last few seasons. He’s 36 and probably running on fumes at this stage of his career. A decent comp is Zack Grienke – has gotten by with guile in spite of declining velo, but even that’s not enough anymore. I’m not even sure he’ll be signed.
Paxton is still throwing 95+, and his FB velo ticked up last year as he recovered from TJ surgery. This will be his second year back from TJ, which is often the time when a pitcher takes a big step forward in shaking off the lingering effects. In the first half last year when he was fresh his performance mirrored his peak years before he petered out in the second half.
He probably still has a lot in the tank, maybe not for much more than 100 innings, but if AF manages the workload over the course of the season with his creative use of the IL for any number of ailments, then that should be enough, especially if you expect Kershaw to return in August.
I predict and hope that the Dodgers make the six man rotation standard operating procedure moving forward. I think that was always one of the big attractions about Ohtani. He gives you and extra roster spot, which makes it makes it easy to go with a six man rotation. With as hard and high effort as pitchers throw in this era, a five man rotation seems anachronistic if you want to protect your pitching investments. Injuries to pitchers are at epidemic levels. Easing workloads with an extra day of rest can’t hurt. A six man is really the only way both May and Gonsolin have a spot in the rotation next year (and that’s even with assuming that Buehler’s gone)
Someone yesterday posted the speculation that Buehler will be slowly eased into a larger workload and might not even contribute fully until after the ASB. If true, I’m on board. The team needs to do whatever it needs to in order to peak in September. I don’t think they have any real competition to win the division so they can afford to give Sheehan/Stone starts.
great points. Can’t really argue with anything you wrote.
Two-way Ohtani gives us that extra roster spot……………….except for this year. It will be interesting to see if they start using a 6-man rotation before they can use Ohtani as one of the 6.
A 6-man rotation cuts down the bullpen by one man and that could prove to be important.
I wonder, as more teams go to a 6-man over the next few years (and I think they will), if by the time the next CBA is negotiated the owners will agree to up the 26-man roster by an additional spot.
All good points.
I would say if there was any evidence that a six man has any measurable positive impact on pitcher health then a 27 man roster would be a no-brainer.
I think, though, that one impediment to all teams going with a six man is the pool of available quality starting pitchers. A lot of teams struggle to roster three good starters. I can’t imagine who the A’s sixth starter would be.
Valid point. I’m guessing the A’s will use a “starting pitcher” rather than a “quality starting pitcher”. Actually they might have to use 6 of those until John Fisher sells the team.
6-man starting staffs will ultimately bring down the quality a bit, but hopefully lead to fewer injuries, so one might equalize the other.
Not sure how that works, but a team can still only carry 13 pitchers on the roster.
Which is a dumb rule.
The MLB should encourage, not discourage, more two-way players. This is still fairly common practice in the NCAA. Back in the day at good old CSU Fullerton, Mark Kotsay was an all-American who played outfield and pitched. Now he manages the A’s.
The Dodgers now have Zyhir Hope. Primarily an outfielder, but he could probably do a bit of relief work too. And what ever happened to pitchers who were good enough to be called in to pinch hit–and not just to lay down a bunt. Did that disappear with the DH? I do recall the Dodgers using Ross Stripling as a pinch-runner.
Probaby 97% of ballplayers come up playing multiple positions.
Rememer Russell Martin’s swan song with the Dodgers. He did some mop-up duty in blowouts. He was throwing 92 mph strikes with good control.
And now Charlie Culberson and DJ Peters are trying to reinvent themselves as pitchers…
Kids not ready? I agree but the Dodgers did win 100 games and two of the three playoff games were lost by veteran pitchers. Had Pepiot been allowed to start game three and done well, then along with the 100 wins, maybe it could be said the kids were ready. Then there was the absence of hitting by the veterans in the playoffs.
If the Dodgers have too many pitchers for 2025, maybe they can again grab a Ferris and Hope.
Many of the Dodgers’ kids were not ready last year. Their stats and performance tell us that.
Grove – 2-3, 6.13, WHIP 1.48, BAA .296
Sheehan – 4-1, 4.92, WHIP 1.19
Stone – 1-1, 9.00, WHIP1.90, BAA .338
Sheehan had improved toward the end of the season but was inconsistent. Pepiot was very good as was Miller.
We don’t know if this will be Glasnow’s first season to pitch over 120 innings but we hope so.
We don’t know if Buehler will be one of the few pitchers to thrive after 2 Tommy John surgeries but we hope so.
We don’t know how Yamamoto will do facing major league hitters for the first time but we hope he will be good.
We don’t know if Kershaw returns to the Dodgers and if he will be good after major shoulder surgery but we hope so.
As much as the Dodgers have spent on pitching this year, there are lots of question marks. Having another veteran arm, especially a lefty, seems like a low cost gamble to me.
Sheehan was better than his numbers indicate. A few blow-ups skewed those numbers.
Last November, Clayton Kershaw announced on Instagram that he underwent left shoulder surgery to repair gleno-humeral ligaments, and his expected return date will be “some point next summer.”
I admit I am just not smart enough, or have anywhere near the knowledge and experience with this surgery to know what the chances of Kershaw coming back and being the elite pitcher he has been. Here is the abstract for the gleno-humeral ligaments:
Kershaw turns 36 in March. Has thrown 2712.2 innings + another 194.1 playoff innings. He has been dealing with injuries every year since 2016. Shoulder surgeries are not easy to return from.
I do not question Clayton’s work ethic to come back, but I do wonder how much more that left arm can give.
For the record, I want the Dodgers to sign Kershaw this year. Whatever it takes. I want him to end his career as a Dodger, and not with what transpired last October as our last image of his HOF career. If nothing else, one more start at Dodger Stadium.
I bring this up because so many are assuming that Kershaw is going to come back this summer and be Clayton Kershaw. I am not that omnipresent or clairvoyant. If he does, that would just make the Dodgers that much better. If not, the kids will get their chance. There will be lots of opportunities for success. I am higher on Sheehan than Stone, but both need that third pitch, or they will become the next SP that move to the pen. RH versions of Andrew Miller??? Nothing wrong with that.
Dodgerrick, have you ever come across this surgery in your cases? You were the first I thought of who might have an understanding what Kersh will be facing.
One more thing, for those who remind us that Kershaw says he is feeling better than ever after the surgery, when has he not said that? That is who he is.
My preference would be to wait until late June before making a decision on signing Kershaw. That will give him time to better know if he can still pitch well.
The glenoid is the socket that the humerus fits in. It is lined with a cuff made of cartilage called the glenoid labrum. The medical term for the ball and socket joint that is part of the shoulder is the glenohumeral joint. (There are 2 other joints involved with the shoulder – the AC joint, or acromioclavicular joint, which is the articulation between the end of the collarbone, or clavicle, and the acromion, which is the inside part of the shoulder, and the scapular joint, or shoulder blade.)
When someone has a SLAP repair, it is a repair of the glenoid labrum, as the cartilage is subject to wear and tear and the shoulder becomes unstable if the glenoid is torn.
The glenohumeral ligaments hold the head of the humerus in place while it moves inside of the glenoid labrum. There are 3 of them and they connect the humerus to the labrum.
This surgery is rare for people who don’t have jobs that require repeated vigorous overhand motions, like pitchers. It isn’t done very frequently.
A recent article in the Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine (2023) studied a group of 11 baseball players who had this surgery. 9 of the 11 were pitchers. The mean return time on the pitchers was 19 months after surgery. Outcomes were generally good.
Before we anoint Landon Knack as a viable SP option, I think we need to see who shows up at ST. Will he be the round version as he was in 2022, or the more svelte version he was last year? As impressive as Landon was in 2023, he was just as unimpressive in 2022. He did reach AA as a 23 year old in 2021. And that means something to me.
He is the one youngster (at 26 is he a youngster?) who does not have huge reliever risk. He is a SP with 4 pitches and with control. He will start out at OKC, but his best value may come as a trade option. If not traded, he could be a viable #5/#6, more on the lines of Mitch White. Those guys are needed as well.
How about Knack + Varland + Vargas for Tanner Scott + a lottery ticket?
My impression is that Knack can be a solid back-end guy, but that the Dodgers have a higher regard for Frasso, Ryan, Stone and Sheehan–not to mention the hope for the return of Kershaw, May and Gonsolin.
Where does Varland fit on the RP depth chart? Below many names, I think, and he’d also be behind the SPs who get assigned to the pen.
I keep hoping that Miguel Vargas’s potential and Cuban roots will have extra appeal for Miami.
If Miguelito starts in OKC, I sure hope he gets most of his reps at 3B and LF. A good guy to have if Freddie or Max get hurt.
But among the Dodgers’ rising position prospects, I think Austin Gauthier may have the brighter future as true UT guy, especially if he keeps walking more than he Ks.
Be prepared for the “death ball”!
Maybe the next sweeper-esque new pitch. Kind of a fastball with gyro-spin! Comes Out of Charlotte and thrown by Jordan Montgomery effectively in the playoffs.
more here ($$$$)
https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/87818/bullpen-session-deathball-what-is-it/
I like this Paxton signing. Along with Badger, I’m on board with a six man rotation. And, it should be initiated right from the start of the season. This will give Yamamota a better chance to adjust to the American game. It will allow Miller (inexperienced), Glasnow (injury history), and Paxton (injury history) to increase the odds of staying healthy. Finally, it will give Sheehan, Stone, or Knack an opportunity to get some MLB innings. Then incorporate Buehler if and when he is ready to pitch.
With Jeff’s research on Kershaw’s injury it doesn’t appear the odds of him pitching this year doesn’t look good. If he does return then he would replace the sixth person in the rotation which will probably be a rookie. Right now, the Dodgers have plenty of pitchers to go to a six man rotation to start the season.
If the offense plays up to their potential it would reduce the stress and expectations from the starting rotation. If that happens it would be a terrific opportunity to see what the youngsters can do. And, like we found out last year, who knows how many starting pitchers the team will need?
Carry on.
I keep reading about a 6-man rotation, but… Someone, somewhere, said that’s how it will be? Has the office already assured that there will be 6 starters? Or is it just a simple wish of us as fans?
It has been hinted at very strongly by Brandon Gomes. They are not going to unequivocally state that there will be a 6 man rotation. But it is the rotation that Yamamoto and Ohtani best work in. And with the reduced number of innings scheduled for Buehler and the injury risks of Glasnow and Paxton, and the inexperience of the kids (Sheehan, Stone, Knack…) it makes sense why Gomes is strongly hinting at it.
Here is an article referencing Gomes and the 6-man rotation.
Click on the picture
If we go to 6 man rotation then there is one less bullpen arm and the starting rotation is loaded with 5 inning guys. We also have to have a healthy and not burned out bullpen come October.
You are going to see bullpen guys (kids) be on frequent flier miles between OKC and LA. Either Stone or Sheehan, Hurt, Varland, Vanasco, Grove, Knack, and May (after ASG). Plus AF has been pretty successful finding relievers mid season (trade deadline or waivers). I am not as worried about the bullpen as the health of the starters. AF has been expert at utilizing the IL.
Besides the Dodgers do not have much of an opportunity to have multiple 180 inning guys anyway.
Thanks, I hadn’t read that.
Look at the numbers from last year. 17 different starters. None with more than 24 starts. 162 games divided by 5 is 32. Divided by 6 it’s 27. Divided by 7 it’s 23. We were already there and not by choice but by necessity.
The velocities in today’s game dictate more rest time. It’s too late to get ahead of it. Had we done that when it was first suggested (not only by me) we might not have lost May, Buehler and Kershaw. But it isn’t too late to be aligned with it, and it looks to me like that’s exactly what the Dodgers are doing.
Ted, according to D-Rick’s post, the mean (average) recovery time is 19 months. That would certainly be all of this year. But to get to that average there had to be some below that number. Kershaw, on every level I can see, isn’t average in anything he does. Could he be available by late season? And even if he is, do the Dodgers need him? If all goes well, probably not. But when has all gone well?
… and as usual, neither Clayton nor the Dodgers have really articulated what they exactly did and what damage they found. So… we wait!
This is the way.
Earlier, someone said, “A 6-man rotation cuts down the bullpen by one man and that could prove to be important.” That is true this year, but next year Ohtani can be in the rotation and deliver a free roster spot. Cool!
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My hope is that we’d see longer starts in a six-man rotation, which would reduce the workload for the bullpen.
DodgerRick, if 19 months is the mean time to return any idea what the quickest was? Since the data is for only 9 pitchers, it’s a pretty small sample size, so is it realistic to think Kershaw can return this year!
It also depends upon the degree of damage. Julio Urias had surgery on his labrum, but the damage was minor. It turned out he needed surgery on his brain.
Then, there is full-blown surgery and arthroscopic surgery, which is much less invasive. Do we even know which surgery Clayton had?
Jeff or Bear,
Please delete if you have even the slightest inclination to.
Harkening back to a few days ago.
San Francisco’s homeless budget is $850mm, it has 7,754 homeless people
That means SF spends approximately $110k per homeless person per year
This is not a problem of capital! The city has wonderfully talented people producing amazing things. The problem is legal and that the CURRENT government is completely incompetent.
Amen!
A large percentage of the homeless are Vets.
Tunnel to Towers ( a cause I donate to) recently built a home in Houston for 131 vets for about $12 Million.
Updated to current year.
San Francisco’s homeless budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 is $713.3 million, amounting to $91,991 per homeless person.
Source?
I think we’d need a deeper dive to comprehend this particular line item. (Is it a line item? Does the budget literally declare, “Homeless services–$713.3 million” or is this a calculation based various expenditures?
Does this money go to shelters and soup kitchens? Does it cover public health issues? How about mental health? How about homeless families with children? Does it fund a certain police program?
Is there a post in the works on the BA top thirty? Would enjoy reading and commenting on it. Thanks.
Ditto!
I will post the names of top 30 on Thursday’s post.
Great look at the Dodgers International signings: