The Dodgers had been not too long ago dealt a few important blows, with each Mookie Betts and Yoshinobu Yamamoto slated for prolonged stays on the injured record. Basic supervisor Brandon Gomes addressed the accidents not too long ago, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Occasions, saying that the membership was unlikely to change their deadline plans as a response. “I really don’t assume it meaningfully modifications something at this level,” Gomes mentioned, “With the expectation that these guys are gonna be again for the postseason.”
Betts was hit by a pitch on his hand and suffered a fracture, with an anticipated restoration time of six to eight weeks. Yamamoto has a extra nebulous timeline along with his strained rotator cuff, although the membership is anticipating him again in some unspecified time in the future this season.
These are clearly important losses. Betts has extra walks than strikeouts this yr and has ten house runs as nicely, resulting in a line of .304/.405/.488 and a 158 wRC+. He has finished all that whereas primarily studying shortstop on the fly, having simply been handed the job throughout Spring Coaching. Regardless of restricted massive league expertise on the place, he appears to be doing a satisfactory job. Outs Above Common has him at -4 this yr however Defensive Runs Saved places him at +4. FanGraphs has credited him with 3.5 wins above alternative thus far on the season, second within the Nationwide League to his teammate Shohei Ohtani. Yamamoto, in the meantime, has an earned run common of two.92 by his first 14 main league begins.
Subtracting these two gamers from the roster will undoubtedly have an effect on the membership’s total expertise degree, however it’s comprehensible that the Dodgers don’t plan to panic and utterly change course. The membership at the moment sports activities a document of 46-30 and the one membership above .500 within the Nationwide League West. Every of the Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres are just under .500, with every of these three being both 9 or 9.5 video games again.
That provides the Dodgers loads of respiration room and fairly sturdy odds of profitable the division, even with the damage challenges. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them a 92.5% likelihood of taking the West whereas the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus are much more bullish at 95.8%. Each of these shops give the membership round a 99% likelihood of getting some type of playoff spot.
With that snug place within the standings, the membership is probably going going to be specializing in no matter strikes put their membership in finest place to win video games in October, versus the interim. Going out to seize an innings eater for the again finish of the rotation may stabilize issues for the subsequent few months however such a pitcher wouldn’t be an enormous think about a playoff sequence when golf equipment can shorten their rotations to a few or 4 pitchers.
Even with out Yamamoto and Walker Buehler, who additionally landed on the injured record not too long ago with a minor problem, the Dodgers at the moment have a wholesome rotation of consisting of Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone and James Paxton. They’ve Clayton Kershaw, Dustin Could and Kyle Harm as choices to return off the injured record later this yr, in addition to Yamamoto. Landon Knack is on the 40-man roster and pitching in Triple-A, doubtlessly coming as much as exchange Buehler. River Ryan, one of many membership’s prime prospects, was not too long ago reinstated from the minor league injured record and is pitching in Triple-A as nicely.
With all of these potential starters, they need to be capable to discover a technique to get by the common season. The bigger query shall be whether or not there’s sufficient for a powerful postseason rotation. Glasnow has been nice this yr however has a prolonged damage historical past. He’s by no means topped 120 innings in a significant league season and is at the moment at 93. Yamamoto is now a query mark. Buehler has a 5.84 ERA on the yr and is now on the shelf. Miller’s ERA is at 6.00 and he simply got here off the IL. Paxton and Stone have respective ERAs of three.65 and three.01 however much less spectacular peripherals.
Whereas that group is probably going sufficient to get the membership into the postseason, their deadline strikes will understandably be targeted on the way it will play as soon as they get there. In his article, Harris suggests the Dodgers shall be targeted on high-impact starters, with Garrett Crochet of the White Sox and Jesús Luzardo of the Marlins listed as hypothetical examples. Although as he factors out, each of these pitchers have a number of years of management and their respective golf equipment will set lofty asking costs.
At shortstop, the considering is probably going related, because the membership can get by for now with Miguel Rojas taking on for Betts. Rojas is a wonderful fielder who has usually been unimpressive on the plate, with a profession slash line of .259/.312/.357. He’s having a powerful season, nevertheless, with a .288/.333/.449 line in 2024. Maybe that can regress a bit as he strikes from a part-time function to a full-time gig, however he may nonetheless be a serviceable shortstop with a numbers a bit decrease than that.
It wouldn’t be a shock to see the membership monitor the center infield market within the weeks to return whereas Betts is out, as loads of different gamers are struggling. Gavin Lux has acquired loads of enjoying time at second base however is hitting .212/.261/.283 this yr. Chris Taylor has moved between the infield and outfield however is sitting on a dismal line of .115/.211/.177. Enrique Hernández has additionally been in a multi-positional function and has higher numbers than Taylor however his .201/.277/.309 line isn’t nice both. Cavan Biggio was introduced aboard for some further infield cowl with Max Muncy out of motion however he’s hitting simply .197/.325/.276 on the yr between the Blue Jays and Dodgers.
Looking forward to the postseason, it’s doable that Betts and Rojas may very well be the first center infield tandem if Betts is again and Rojas stays in good kind, however the membership could not depend on Rojas like that on account of his profession numbers. Maybe that can lead the membership to make some type of center infield transfer between now and the top of July, however that was probably the case even earlier than Betts bought damage.
Per the piece from Harris, the Dodgers are prepared to place Betts again at shortstop later within the yr however haven’t made a last resolution. If they need a extra skilled choice on the place and wish to improve on Rojas, it’s unclear who may very well be out there. Harris lists Willy Adames and Bo Bichette as theoretical suits but in addition notes the difficulties in buying every. The Brewers have a wholesome lead of their division, which probably means Adames is staying. As for Bichette, even when the Jays fall out of the race, there are causes to not commerce him. He’s having a down yr and is at the moment on the IL, so the Jays could not wish to promote low. With one other yr left on his contract, they might want to carry if they will’t get what they really feel is honest worth.
Different speculative shortstop targets will not be too interesting. The White Sox will definitely make Paul DeJong out there and he’s having a pleasant bounceback yr, however he nonetheless strikes out a ton and has been vulnerable to lengthy intervals of ineffectiveness up to now. The Marlins would like to get one thing from Tim Anderson however he’s performing even worse than he did final yr. Ha-Seong Kim is an impending free agent however the Padres are hovering within the playoff race and certainly would favor to not commerce him to their division rival.