Facing an issue that’s rarely come up in his tenure as Dodgers manager, the veteran starting pitching options for Dave Roberts’ current rotation certainly isn’t inspiring his confidence with just weeks left in the regular season.
After seeing his two elder statesmen in the rotation get shelled against the Marlins in their most recent series, Roberts indicated that a youth movement may be in order for LA’s postseason plans in their pitching ranks.
“With the postseason, as I’ve learned, it’s talent,” Roberts said. “It’s (the) ability to control emotions. And it’s execution. So I think you certainly don’t have to debate the talent with those young pitchers. I think the heartbeat, the experience, is an unknown. You don’t know until you know.”
via Fabian Ardaya, The Athletic
Seeing Lance Lynn surrender eight runs and more home runs against the Marlins in his second consecutive failed quality start pursuit, the Dodgers clinched a series loss against Miami after Clayton Kershaw’s own poor showing in the opener doomed the team to dropping the three game set before the last game was even played.
Though Ryan Pepiot has been called up and surely will play a big role in the postseason rotation, things could look wildly different to years past for LA’s starting rotation than fans are accustomed to from years past.
Bobby Miller’s emergence as a front line starter in his rookie season has been a pleasure to see and is all but penciled in to start a playoff game for the team in a few weeks time.
Rookie reinforcements may be the answer to this solution as Emmet Sheehan’s start against the Braves similarly inspired confidence much like Miller in his own ability to pitch in the biggest games of the year.
Gavin Stone and Michael Grove could also factor into this equation as the former’s bulk work out of the bullpen has been encouraging alongside Grove’s own recovery from injury and transition into the pen as a possible opener or long reliever.
While there are clear issues for the veteran starters of the team, 2023’s World Series victory in LA may be linked to their talented farm system.
Photo Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
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