Less than two weeks until the most important trade deadline in franchise history, and the Dodgers’ heads are spinning.
Where do they look? How close do they look? What is real? What is really dumb?
Things are getting wild at Chavez Ravine, as evidenced by the rapt attention paid Friday to three pitchers during the team’s return from the All-Star break.
Only one of whom actually pitched in an official major league game.
First up was Tyler Glasnow, four hours before the Dodgers played the Boston Red Sox, captivating club officials standing in sweltering heat with a 57-pitch simulated game.
Glasnow is their ace, but he’s fragile, and he has nearly reached his career-high innings count for a season, and the Dodgers sidelined him before the All-Star game because of a strange back injury.
Strange, because he probably wasn’t really hurt, but just needed the time off, which is honestly scarier than any injury.
Freddie Freeman hits a grand slam in the eighth inning for his 15th home run of the season in the Dodgers’ comeback win over the Boston Red Sox.
“I feel good, the time off was good,” he said. “Went out there today and everything felt sharp.”
So he’s fine. For now. Do you trust him? Are you sure?
Next up, 1,381 miles to the southeast, there was Clayton Kershaw in Round Rock, Texas, making a rehabilitation start for triple-A Oklahoma City.
As Dodgers officials followed closely on their laptops, Kershaw gave up three runs in four innings with a fastball velocity that dipped to a dangerous 87 mph in the fourth inning.
Would you now slide him back in the rotation, ignoring that he’s still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and he’s 36?
“I mean, ultimately, it’s just where the team is at,” Kershaw said afterward. “So would love to come back whenever they need me, obviously. But don’t want to put the team in a bad spot.”
Too late. They’re already in a bad spot. Here’s guessing the Dodgers are going to get him back on a big league mound as soon as possible.
The situation is that shaky. The Dodgers are that desperate.
Finally Friday, after the two opening acts were completed, the main event showed up in rookie star Gavin Stone starting the game against the Red Sox.
He was his usual strong self, giving up only Jarren Duran’s home run on six hits in five innings with three strikeouts and no walks during an eventual dramatic 4-1 comeback win. But he carries the usual baggage. He has now pitched 101⅔ innings this season, a mere 20 innings shy of his professional career high. And oh yeah, he has never pitched in the postseason.
Count on him? Maybe. It depends. With the Dodgers, everything in these next two weeks depends.
Pitching is just one spur in their saddle. They also need a hitter to answer the same type of questions that plague the pitching.
Mookie Betts will come back soon, but how much will his broken hand affect him? Max Muncy recently admitted on a podcast that he’s not progressing as well as expected from his oblique issue. Will he come back in time to contribute? Should the Dodgers cut their losses and acquire a third baseman?
Yes, they need so much help in so many areas and it all goes back to the glorious billion-dollar offseason. Turns out, with the notable exception of Shohei Ohtani, the front office might have done some really silly things, making mistakes that have haunted the team all season.
After making his third rehab start, Clayton Kershaw is feeling confident and is looking forward to making his season debut with the Dodgers soon.
Just wondering, but who recommended that the Dodgers give Yoshinobu Yamamoto a 12-year contract worth $325 million when he had never thrown a major-league pitch?
He seems fragile. He appears uncertain. He has been increasingly ineffective and now he’s suffering from a shoulder injury that might not heal until after the season.
Safe to say, with his physical issues, Yamamoto has been one of baseball’s biggest disappointments, and now the Dodgers might have to scramble to replace him.
During the offseason they also signed James Paxton, the Canadian “Big Maple” who has too often been cut down. The Dodgers are often lauded for their ability to hone diamonds out of coal, but in Paxton’s case, he is what he has always been.
Not a playoff savior.
Then there are the struggling position players, the Dodgers bringing back ineffective Kiké Hernández while sticking with a slumping Chris Taylor and misjudging former-prospect-turned-suspect Gavin Lux.
Questions everywhere, and when I asked manager Dave Roberts on Friday if this team needed help, he nodded.
“You know, we do,” he said. “I think the question is whether it’s internal or by way of trade.”
So do they wait for the return of Kershaw and the healing of Yamamoto and the durability of Glasnow, or do they push all their chips in for a star starting pitcher such as Detroit’s Tarik Skubal or the Chicago White Sox’s Garrett Crochet?
Do they count on the return of Betts and a miracle from Muncy and a sudden change in Hernández and Lux and Taylor, or do they run out and grab Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena?
“You know, where we’re at, the 26-man roster is going to be augmented,” Roberts said. “And the hard part is trying to figure out who, when and if guys are coming back, and then to appreciate the deadline in itself. So that’s the hard part. Whether it’s starters, it’s position players, it’s relievers, all that stuff, all are in play to strengthen the roster. So the tricky part is assessing what’s out there and really trying to make sure we nail, do the best we can with the guys that we, you know, that we see everyday.”
Tyler Glasnow is set to return for the Dodgers, but what are Dave Roberts’ plans when it comes to managing the starting pitcher in the months ahead?
Please, Dodgers, don’t be fooled by what you see every day. Don’t support your own players for fear of admitting a mistake. You need a starting pitcher. Go get a starting pitcher. You need a strong hitter. Go find one.
“You’ve got to make a calculated bet,” Roberts said. “So, do we need to upgrade? Yes. I just don’t think anyone can answer how we’re going to go about doing it. That’s the problem.”
It is a problem that requires a solution, one involving more humility than hubris.
Only by admitting they’re not always the smartest guys in the room can the Dodgers eventually decorate that room with a championship.
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