The Dodgers are comfortably in first place in the NL West, but they’ve had as much a patchwork rotation as any contending team in recent memory. They’ve already used 14 starting pitchers and have a virtual All-Star team on the injured list.
The Dodgers are about to gain two aces this coming week. Right-hander Tyler Glasnow is slated to come back from the injured list and make a start on Wednesday while legendary lefty Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to make his 2024 MLB debut on Thursday.
Until those two pitchers come off the IL, the Dodgers will lead the majors with 11 pitches on that injured list.
Glasnow, 30, made the All-Star team for the first time this season and is 8-5 with a 3.47 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 143 strikeouts in 109 innings. He was dealing with a back injury but only needed a short stint on the IL. Still, his workload moving forward will be an issue. He’s only 11 innings shy of his career high of 120, which was achieved last season.
Getting Kershaw back, in theory, should help the Dodgers better work around things like Glasnow’s workload. Kershaw had shoulder surgery last November and was expected to be out until around August, so it looks like he’s a little ahead of schedule. The three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer was 13-5 with a 2.46 ERA last season. In three minor-league rehab starts, Kershaw has allowed four runs on eight hits in 10 innings while striking out 12.
At present, the Dodgers have Glasnow, Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan and more on the injured list.
