The Dodgers starting rotation at one point in 2022 felt like the strongest area of the team. Julio Urias was pitching at a Cy Young level. Clayton Kershaw looked like he was six years younger. Tony Gonsolin was coming into his own as an All-Star. Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney were enjoying breakout years. Oh, and Walker Buehler was still the team’s ace. How quickly things have changed.
Entering the offseason, there are a lot more questions than answers surrounding the rotation. It pretty much feels like the only sure thing is Urias. Yes, Gonsolin is still under contract, and Dustin May should find himself back in the starting rotation in 2023. But we saw what happened when Gonsolin had a full season’s workload, and we still don’t know what May is going to look like he struggled with inconsistencies coming off Tommy John surgery. And after those three guys, it gets really concerning.
Kershaw, Anderson and Heaney are all free agents. You have to imagine the Dodgers sign at least one of them (most likely Kershaw and/or Anderson), but if not, they’ll be relying on guys like Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove to pitch every fifth day. That is not a recipe for success, and is why one Dodger insider thinks starting pitching should be at the top of the team’s to-do list this offseason.
“First is restoring their depth in the starting rotation,” Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic said, “Which looks much thinner with Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Anderson as free agents, and with Walker Buehler not expected to pitch in 2023 as he rehabs from a second Tommy John surgery.”
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The Dodgers will most likely have to sign or trade for at least one top-level starting pitcher, if they want to feel comfortable with their rotation going into next season. There’s almost no point in predicting who those guys will be, because I don’t think anyone saw Anderson or Heaney coming last offseason, and look how well those worked out.
Doug McKain at Dodgers Nation had a good idea to fortify the rotation in his video, here.
Do you think the Dodgers should trade for Corbin Burners to solidify the starting rotation?
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