"Shohei Ohtani, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May coming off surgeries" – MLB insider points to Dodgers' lack of 'workhorses' despite rotation depth
The LA Dodgers seem to be chasing starting pitchers this offseason despite having an array of them on their roster. The Dodgers have already agreed upon a five-year, $182 million contract with Blake Snell and are also in the race for international amateur free agent Roki Sasaki.
The Dodgers already have as many as 11 starting pitchers, with six of them already making their mark in the 2024 season. Add to that pitchers like Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Shohei Ohtani, presumably given the nod to start games in 2025.
However, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal believes that the Dodgers are doing so because there isn't a legitimate workhorse among that herd. Moreover, the pitching injuries in 2024 may have also played a part in this thinking.
"There’s not a workhorse among them," Rosenthal said Friday on Foul Territory (18:52 onwards). "Jason Stark made the point on X today that Blake Snell is actually the workhorse of this group—and his career high is 180 2/3 innings. So let’s go through it: Ohtani, Dustin May, and Gonsolin are all coming off surgeries. Clayton Kershaw is coming off two surgeries—I assume he’s going to re-sign with them.
"You also have Yamamoto, who missed almost three months last year with a shoulder problem. Tyler Glasnow didn’t pitch after mid-August due to his particular issue. None of these pitchers can be expected to go through the whole season and into October."
Rosenthal thinks the Dodgers are hoping that every starting arm will get its turn, in lieu of the others getting rest at the same time and hope that the better part of that lot stays healthy when it comes to the postseason.
Ken Rosenthal suggests that there's room for Roki Sasaki to make an impact with Dodgers
The Dodgers have become a haven for Japanese stars and the latest addition could be Roki Sasaki, widely regarded as the best pitcher in baseball, who has yet to reach MLB.
During the same segment, Ken Rosenthal believes Sasaki will have a good opportunity with the Dodgers despite boasting many starting pitchers.
"Ohtani isn’t going to pitch 180 innings. May and Gonsolin aren’t going to be those kinds of pitchers either. Even if they get Sasaki, his career high in Japan is 129 1/3 innings, and he’s 23 years old—they’re going to take it easy with him, too," Rosenthal said. "Right now, it seems to me, even if they get Sasaki, they’re fine."
Three weeks ago, Roki Sasaki was posted by Chiba Lotte Marines, and unlike Yoshinobu Yamamoto, since he's less than eligible in age and experience, he will instead enter as an international free agent.
This means that teams wanting to sign him will have to use their international pool money instead of getting into an arms race like teams did for Yamamoto last season.