The Los Angeles Dodgers have been the first team to reach 25 wins as they look to follow up their latest World Series championship with another one.
But if the team’s success so far mirrors the 2024 campaign, so does its biggest problem.
Just like last year, the Dodgers are having a hard time fielding healthy starters. Even after adding Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to the rotation, the team has an astounding 14 pitchers on the injured list as of Thursday. And if they can’t manage some reinforcement by playoff time, that could be a real problem.
“Their rotation is unraveling,” Dylan Hernández wrote for the Los Angeles Times.
With so many arms sidelined by injuries, the Dodgers have been very careful with the return of one of their best starters, Shohei Ohtani. He is working his way back after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery in late 2023 and has slowly been building up toward a return to the mound.
Ensuring that Ohtani is healthy and effective for the latter part of the season has suddenly become critical for the Dodgers’ playoff hopes as so many of his teammates struggle to make starts.
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Hernández revealed that the Dodgers have decided on a late-July return for Ohtani, at the earliest.
“This could explain why the Dodgers are taking their time with Ohtani, who isn’t expected to pitch until after the All-Star break, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly,” per Hernández. “The anticipated timeline, however, will limit the opportunities Ohtani has to rediscover himself on the mound.”
If Ohtani is unable to make his pitching debut until the second half of the season, the Dodgers will have to hope he returns to his old form quickly and without any setbacks. It looks like they could be counting on him come October.
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