Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Still Unsure Of the Starting Rotation Order

The Dodgers are already headed to Colorado to start the regular season against the Rockies this week. Walker Buehler will get the ball for Los Angeles on Opening Day, the very first time in his career that he will get that honor. 

But beyond that, the Dodgers sound like they have yet to make a decision on the order. Dave Roberts had said previously this week that Andrew Heaney would not be pitching in Colorado, but that still leaves three games and three starters to be determined. 



When asked about it this week again, Doc said that the Dodgers do not yet have a starter set beyond game 1 on Thursday. The natural decision would be Clayton Kershaw, but it’s unclear if they plan on limiting his innings early on in the season to get him going. That would mean they need to have a starter-type ready to piggyback him out of the bullpen. 

“I just don’t know what order. I know Walker is going to start Game 1, but as far as two, three, four and five, I just don’t see where we’re going to be with that. I know Heaney won’t be pitching in Colorado. But the other three guys, we’re still trying to sift through.”

The Dodgers will have Kershaw, Julio Urias, and Tony Gonsolin pitching in some order after Buehler. Doc might want to mix up the left-righty order which is why they have been hesitant to announce anyone after Buehler. 

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But regardless of the order they go in, the Dodgers will have 11 different guys out in the bullpen to back them up. So don’t expect the starters to go any longer than they need to with Spring Training being so abbreviated. 

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10 Comments

  1. The starters need to be on either a pitch count of 75-80 or 5 innings max. Which ever comes first. The camp was too short for pitchers no matter how ready they believe themselves to be.

  2. This is not difficult at all. Buehler is already the starter for Opening Day. Urias should be next. He deserves it. I would save Kershaw for the Home Opener though – his innings SHOULD be limited for the 1st half of the season – and use Gonsolin for game #3 in COL. Heaney can get the next slot just to see what he will give us. Maybe Price for the last game in MINN.

    At some point after the middle of the season – and yes – with Kershaw pitching limited innings up til that point, I would move him into the 3 slot. In my opinion, if Kershaw throws 150+ IP it will be to his detriment. No other shuffling should be necessary.

    Playoffs should be set up for Buehler / Urias / Kershaw / Gonsolin in that order. During the regular season though, I’m sure many others will get spot starts or maybe even earn a permanent slot: Price / Anderson / White / Jackson. I also see debuts at some point during the season: Pepiot (?)/ Miller(?)

    At the trade deadline, with injuries always a major concern, some starter will become available that will look like a fit and I look forward to that. However, I think our rotation is looking good for now.

  3. We need to trade for another starter, whether that be Bieber, Castillo, or Montas.

  4. well the bullpen looks okay. the rotation looks like friedman neglected it while he was trying to beef up the offense and prove to me that hes capable of putting a bullpen together after i explained to him in a letter 2 or 3 years ago after he kept complaining how he couldnt figure it out in news reports. the dodgers may be some fresh meat out there in the jungle this year while they try to regroup for the 2023 campaign. they really dogged it last year running the team into the ground. theyre falling apart. alot of bad moves. terrible moves. good moves too. but too many bad moves. signing bauer was only the tip of the entire antarctic ice shelf. hiring roberts and then extending him TWICE was suicidal for the team. theyre just showing up for the cash now. forget about the drive and motivation now. whats the use with roberts at the helm? i told them not to make urias a starter. and they did it anyway. i told them repeatedly in letters. and they read all those letters according to manfred a few years back. urias was built for the hybrid role like a dream. now both buehler and urias are worn out from being run over last year in that debacle where they made the loser decisions to chase san francisco into the tenderloin. now dave is saying julio is going to be okay. but still he doesnt know. ANYTHING. whereas i would bench urias and buehler for 4 months or the year if necessary and let their bodies and minds recover. obviously their fastball velocity is way down after being driven into the ground last year. neither the dodgers or roberts had the pitching staffs back in 2021 making one piss poor decision after another. scherzer was the only one publically crying about it as he can because of his status within the game. and he was hedging the truth to try and stop any criticism aimed towards himself. and it sort of backfired with some of the fans. i think peppiot is way overrated. and if they dont bench urias and buehler they could land on the i.l. soon or lose their careers. and jt looks done. they might as well bag it and tag it this season and get ready for next season. the dodgers are toast in 2022. at this point theyve gotta start thinking of trading bellinger . theyve got enough coming up the pipeline. vargas. busch. they cant keep signing thirty year olds like trea to long range contracts. thats too many old guys. pretty soon theyre going to start looking like the yankees or the angels the past several years bogged down with all those deadweight contracts. whenever teams sign players to 300 million ten year contracts those players seem to lose motivation and stop playing as hard. you know historically it looks that way. id turn roberts into a figurehead to implement gameplans and create tactical coaches for pitching changes especially, in the dugout. i believe relaying information is not allowed from upstairs during games. so you need at least one expert in the dugout to manipulate the pitching staff. and daves not that guy.

    1. Mike, could you write Dr Dave a letter and please ask him to not play his players that hit 150, leave millions of runners on base, strike out 3/4 of the time. That would be a nice start, even if they’re his favorites…..

  5. and i sure wouldnt let roberts handle millers usage after the way he handled urias and buehler last year. their recent velocity is the evidence that they were mishandled and if they dont get immediate rest their careers could be in jeapordy! the dodgers need to start taking care of the players to rebuild team confidence in the operation. and pay attention to army mike. i said i was like ef hutton. when i talk everybodys supposed to listen.

  6. “but as far as two, three, four and five, I just don’t see where we’re going to be with that.” Is this coming from the same so-called manager who “doubles down on his WS prediction”?!?

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