For a Dodgers team overflowing with storylines, no subplot has been more front-and-center in recent months than their injury-marred pitching staff. The Dodgers overcame an outlandish number of arm ailments last year en route to the franchise’s eighth World Series championship, and they surely hoped to not chart the same path to defend their title. Yet here we are.
No team in baseball has used more pitchers this season than the Dodgers’ 34, a staggering number already approaching last year’s full-season total of 40, which was tied for second-most in MLB with the Angels. Also, no team in baseball has used more starting pitchers this season than the Dodgers’ 16; they used 17 all of last year. Even more troubling is that this amalgamation of hurlers has combined to throw the fewest innings of any starting staff in baseball, shifting more of the burden onto a bullpen that has also endured its share of injuries.
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With nearly half the regular season left to play, plus another grueling month of October expected, there are a whole lot more innings left for the Dodgers to cover this year — and a whole lot of uncertainty about which pitchers will be able to handle the workload. So let’s check in on the army of arms tasked with starting games for the defending champs. This list will not include the two relievers who have started as openers (Lou Trivino and Jack Dreyer), nor does it include the three talented hurlers currently rehabbing from surgery and not expected to play a role this season (Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Kyle Hurt).
In order of total innings pitched in 2025, here’s a look at the 14 pitchers who have factored into the Dodgers’ rotation, from those who have taken the ball most to those who will hope to contribute more in the second half, with no shortage of guys somewhere in between.
RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto: 89⅔ IP (16 starts)
Yamamoto has been magnificent in his second major-league season, a weekly breath of fresh air for manager Dave Roberts amid so much uncertainty on the mound. After relying primarily on a three-pitch diet of four-seamers, curveballs and splitters as a rookie, the 26-year-old ace has incorporated his cutter and sinker more frequently in Year 2, to great effect; he is one of only three qualified pitchers with a strikeout rate of at least 25% and a ground-ball rate of at least 50%, along with Logan Webb and Cristopher Sanchez.
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Yamamoto has looked more mortal in his past eight starts (3.99 ERA in 49⅔ IP) compared to his first eight (0.90 ERA in 40 IP), pushing him to the fringes of the NL Cy Young conversation. But he is more than capable of pitching his way back into the mix for the award in the second half, and he remains one of the most important characters in the Dodgers’ quest to repeat as champions.
RHP Dustin May: 82⅔ IP (15 starts)
That May hasn’t missed a turn through the rotation after not pitching for nearly two years deserves praise, but his ability to eat innings has been just about his only standout trait; among 84 pitchers with at least 80 frames completed this season, May ranks 68th in ERA (4.68), 65th in WHIP (1.37) and 61st in fWAR (0.6). With his velocity closer to average than the high heat he used to sling earlier in his career, May now relies more on his sweeper than the wicked sinker that previously headlined his arsenal. The sinker has proven to be far less effective at 94 mph, compared to the 97 mph it used to operate at, leaving May without an optimal weapon to induce weak contact. And with command that’s fairly rusty after a long layoff, most of May’s outings have featured a lot of traffic on the bases.
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He has managed to complete at least five innings in 14 of his 15 starts — no small feat on this staff — but he has pitched into the seventh only twice. His durability relative to his peers has solidified his place in the rotation moving forward, but the current version of May does not project as an enviable playoff starter. At the very least, May, who turns 28 in September, should be one of the more interesting pitchers available in free agency this winter.
RHP Ben Casparius: 56⅔ IP (2 starts)
Developed as a starter in the minors, Casparius shifted to the bullpen down the stretch and in the postseason last year and continued to pitch mostly in relief to start 2025, including even in some high-leverage situations. More recently, however, he has started to stretch back out as a rotation arm, throwing at least 50 pitches and going at least three innings in each of his past four outings, including a start against San Diego on June 11.
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Casparius’ willingness to bounce between roles is admirable and surely appreciated by the Dodgers amidst all the absences on the pitching staff, but his effectiveness has waned in recent weeks. After allowing 11 earned runs in 39 innings of work across his first 20 appearances (2.54 ERA), Casparius has allowed 14 earned runs in just 17⅔ innings over his most recent five outings (7.13 ERA). This raises the question of how he best fits on this pitching staff, especially as other rotation options reemerge; his stellar early-season work suggests that a relief role might be more suitable. Casparius’ role and the distribution of workload will be fascinating to follow in the coming weeks and months.
LHP Clayton Kershaw: 38⅔ IP (8 starts)
On the precipice of 3,000 career strikeouts, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer has arguably already given more to the Dodgers in his age-37 season than many expected, earning more wins (4) than Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell combined through the first three months of the year. That fact obviously says more about the three injured hurlers than Kershaw, but the legendary lefty has been stunningly effective thus far (3.03 ERA), even with a fastball that rarely crests 90 mph.
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The BABIP gods have smiled kindly on Kersh thus far, as the boatload of hard contact he has allowed has yet to come back to bite him too harshly. Even without his best stuff or anything resembling it, it seems that Kershaw, if he can stay healthy, can continue munching regular-season innings reasonably effectively. Will there be a role for him come October? We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
RHP Landon Knack: 38⅔ IP (7 starts)
A surprisingly crucial contributor as a rookie amid last year’s barrage of injuries, including three postseason appearances, Knack earned an extended stint in the Dodgers’ rotation in May before he was sent back to Triple-A earlier this month. Despite his standout changeup, he has neither the requisite arsenal nor the command to consistently stymie big-league bats, and his porous underlying metrics reflect that. He’d be a sufficient No. 5 starter on most teams and remains useful depth for L.A. in a pinch, but this version of Knack is simply far too hittable to be throwing important innings for a team with championship aspirations.
RHP Tony Gonsolin: 36 IP (7 starts)
Similar to May, Gonsolin’s return to the rotation this year following Tommy John surgery was somewhat lost in the shuffle amid all the high-profile additions, but his outstanding track record of run prevention (2.51 ERA in 272⅔ IP from 2019 to 2022) had many intrigued about the possibility that he could reestablish himself as an important piece for the Dodgers.
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Unfortunately, health has remained an obstacle for Gonsolin, even with elbow surgery nearly two years in the rearview. A back injury delayed his season debut until April 30, and then he lasted just seven unremarkable starts (5.00 ERA) before he was placed on the injured list due to right elbow discomfort. He was recently transferred to the 60-day IL, suggesting this isn’t a brief hiccup, either. Gonsolin’s headlining splitter remains a marvelous pitch, but he looked rusty in most other respects on the mound, so it’s tough to know what to expect from him moving forward, even if he can get healthy.
LHP Justin Wrobleski: 35⅓ IP (2 starts)
After making his debut last season with a handful of cameos in the second half, the 24-year-old southpaw has quietly become a dependable option for the Dodgers since the calendar flipped to June (2.73 ERA in 26⅓ IP). Only one of his five outings has been as a traditional starter, but Wrobleski has thrived as the “bulk” guy following a one-inning opener or in an extended piggyback role, such as when he threw the final five innings of L.A.’s 4-3 win over the Padres on June 18.
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With comfortably plus velocity and multiple secondary offerings beyond the four-seam and sinker that headline his arsenal, Wrobleski has all the makings of a quality No. 4 starter, but it’s too early to know whether this recent run of effectiveness is a sign of things to come. Still, he’s definitively trending in the right direction, which can be said about only a few of the names on this list.
RHP Roki Sasaki: 34⅓ IP (8 starts)
Other than his spectacular splitter, which largely lived up to the hype, very little about Sasaki’s rookie season has gone smoothly. His command was haywire from the get-go, his fastball — which sat around 96 mph, instead of the 98 mph he demonstrated at his best in Japan — was positively pummeled, and now he’s on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement, without any indication of when he could return.
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At just 23 years old, so much of Sasaki’s story is yet to be written. But there is significant work to be done for him to develop into even a reliable major-league starting pitcher, and expecting that to happen this season feels optimistic at this stage. Let’s try to be patient here.
RHP Matt Sauer: 27⅔ IP (1 start)
Outside of his lone start against the A’s on May 15, Sauer has served in a long relief role in the big leagues but has continued to work as a traditional starter during his time in Triple-A. That keeps him in the mix to make another spot start in the event of an injury to one of the many arms ahead of him on the L.A. depth chart.
RHP Tyler Glasnow: 18 IP (5 starts)
Glasnow made five uneven starts before he was placed on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation at the end of April, and he appears somewhat close to resurfacing after making two rehab outings with Triple-A Oklahoma City over the past two weeks. He hasn’t looked especially sharp in his rehab starts — he walked three in two innings on June 22 and allowed five runs on seven hits in 2⅓ innings of work on June 27 — leading the Dodgers to indicate that he might need another couple of outings with OKC before rejoining the big-league club.
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Even so, the fact that he’s back competing in games makes Glasnow a more realistic candidate to start for the Dodgers in the near future than Sasaki or Blake Snell. What Glasnow will be able to provide down the stretch and/or in October remains to be seen, but this latest injury derailment in the second season of his four-year, $115 million deal is discouraging to say the least.
LHP Blake Snell: 9 IP (2 starts)
Just two starts into a five-year, $182 million deal, Snell went on the injured list due to left shoulder inflammation and is still working his way back. He hasn’t quite made it to a rehab assignment, but Snell has reportedly made meaningful progress in recent bullpen sessions and could be in line to face hitters soon. Regardless of when he returns, it’s an undeniably disappointing start to his Dodgers tenure.
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It was easier to dismiss Snell’s injury issues last season as the product of his having not signed until mid-March and thus not having a proper spring training to prepare, but there’s no such excuse to fall back on this time. It’s another reminder of the fickle nature of pitcher injuries and the risks associated with investing in any arm, no matter how talented. Also, Snell came with a spottier durability track record than the average starter. Hopefully we’ll see him back at some point this year.
RHP Bobby Miller: 5 IP (1 start)
There was some cautious optimism in spring training that Miller could rediscover the version of himself that shined as a rookie in 2023 and become a viable rotation option for Los Angeles at some point during the regular season. Instead, Miller has continued to flounder, mostly in Triple-A.
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He allowed six runs against the lowly Rockies in his lone big-league start on April 16 and has remained in the minors ever since, save for a brief relief cameo with L.A. on May 24. There remains intriguing talent to tap into — he’s still throwing extremely hard — but Miller has done little to prove that he deserves another chance in the Dodgers’ rotation anytime soon.
RHP Emmet Sheehan: 4 IP (1 start)
Just 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery in May 2024, Sheehan looked sharp on June 18 in his first big-league start of the year against San Diego, but he was optioned back to Triple-A shortly thereafter. He responded by striking out 13 batters across six perfect innings in his next outing with Oklahoma City, suggesting he belongs on the big-league staff sooner rather than later.
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The Dodgers might prefer to handle Sheehan’s innings gently coming off surgery, but his electric stuff, headlined by an elite heater at 95-97 mph, is awfully difficult to ignore. Among the less proven names, Wrobleski might be the safer bet to provide bulk innings moving forward, but Sheehan’s ceiling is arguably higher.
RHP Shohei Ohtani: 4 IP (3 starts)
Saving the best for last, of course. Ohtani’s long-awaited return to the mound has yielded mixed results in his three appearances so far. Breathtaking displays of elite velocity have served as welcome confirmation that Ohtani has hardly lost a step from a pure stuff standpoint, even coming off the second elbow surgery of his career, but it’s also clear that he’s still shaking off some rust when it comes to his command and how he deploys his pitch mix.
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From this point forward, what’s most interesting and important for Ohtani will be how gradually the Dodgers build up his workload and where it’ll be by the time October arrives. It’s great that he’s already back, but how much longer will he be restricted to one or two innings? Will there be a point when his increased demands on the mound impact his playing time or performance at DH? Do the Dodgers even intend to have him make starts of five-plus innings in the regular season, or are they purposefully saving him for October?
As always with Ohtani, we are constantly asking questions never before pondered, and it’s important to remember that there is no defined roadmap for how to handle this. We should just sit back and watch it all unfold — and keep our fingers crossed that Ohtani can manage the unfathomable physical toll of being one of the game’s best on both sides of the ball.
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