HOUSTON — Overcrowding isn’t an issue yet. But it could be soon.
The Dodgers already operate with a six-man starting rotation – a luxury no other team can afford. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is scheduled to make his final start on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment with Class-A Ontario on Saturday. If all goes well, Snell will be ready to make his season debut and join the Dodgers’ rotation sometime next week (likely during the Freeway Series games in Anaheim).
If the back spasms that forced Tyler Glasnow from his start on Wednesday in Houston persist long enough for him to miss a start (or more), Snell could essentially replace Glasnow in the starting rotation (though it would take some schedule juggling with the Dodgers about to play on 13 consecutive days).
That’s good news for Emmet Sheehan, Justin Wrobleski or Roki Sasaki.
That trio represents the back half of the Dodgers’ six-man rotation. When the front four of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Snell and Glasnow are all healthy, one of those three young pitchers will have to go – somewhere.
“Yes – short answer,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said when asked about the importance of these next starts for the young trio. “But I would like to think that regardless of if Blake’s coming back or not, their focus to perform at a high level is unchanged. But yeah, there’s a point where, once he comes back, we’re going to have to make a decision.”
In making that decision, “there’s a lot of different ways we can go,” Roberts said.
Those ways fall into three categories – someone goes to the minors, someone goes to the bullpen or someone goes to the injured list.
The minor-league move is the least likely. For all of his inconsistency and calls for him to continue his apprenticeship in the minor leagues, the Dodgers have made it clear they do not think that is the route to go in developing Sasaki as a starter.
Armed with a new, higher-velocity version of his splitter/forkball, Sasaki has given the Dodgers enough signs of progress to stay in their rotation. In his most recent start, he gave up three runs in one inning but settled back in to complete six innings for the first time this season and turned in the first quality start (three runs or fewer, six innings or more) of his 14-start MLB career.
“I will say I think that Roki, the last four (starts), each outing has gotten better in certain areas,” Roberts said. “I think that the last one was the best of the last four or five. We do expect him to continue to get better in the process, the execution, and then just kind of go from there.”
Wrobleski couldn’t be better than he has been since joining the rotation as the sixth starter at the beginning of April. He has allowed just two runs in 32 innings (an 0.56 ERA) as a starter while holding batters to a .190 average (22 for 116) with just four extra-base hits (all doubles). The Dodgers have won all five of his starts.
The one mystery is how sustainable Wrobleski’s success is. He has struck out just 15 in 36 innings this season. Analytics will tell you that is no way to survive in the modern game.
“I think that he’s doing it a different way, in the sense of he’s always on the attack, doesn’t walk many guys, puts the ball in play,” Roberts said of Wrobleski. “I like his rhythm and his pace of play. For me, I think there’s a performance piece that you can’t argue. He’s been very good for a good bit of time. I think for me, it’s just keep the blinders on and things will take care of themself as long as he continues to perform.”
The factor that could work against Wrobleski is his flexibility and demonstrated success pitching out of the bullpen. He made four relief appearances during last year’s World Series and pitched five scoreless innings – and one fearless one when he turned a country against him by setting off a benches-clearing confrontation in Game 7.
Sheehan also moved to the bullpen during last year’s postseason run but with much less success. He allowed seven runs on 13 hits and five walks over his six appearances.
Now, he could be a candidate for a stint on the IL if the Dodgers go that route to stash their starting pitcher surplus.
Sheehan has a 5.23 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in his six starts. Alarmingly, his fastball velocity has dropped. He has averaged 94.1 mph this season after returning from Tommy John surgery last season averaging 95.6 mph. In his most recent start, it was even lower (93.4 mph) and featured one at 89 mph – a dip Roberts said he didn’t want to “dwell on” but admitted was “interesting.”
Sheehan has insisted he is fully healthy and said he believes his lost velocity is “absolutely” related to his mechanics. Perhaps some time on the IL would allow him to address those issues and restore his velocity.
“There’s nothing I can point to and say, ‘Hey, this is the reason,’” Sheehan said after his most recent start. “We’re working really hard on it, and we’re going to continue working really hard on it. That’s all we can do.”
Baseball has a way of happening and Glasnow’s back spasms might just be the first thing to postpone the Dodgers’ decision on who gets bumped out of their overstuffed rotation.
“If we get to that point it’s going to be a good conversation, a tougher conversation with someone,” Roberts said.
UP NEXT
Braves (LHP Chris Sale, 6-1, 2.14 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Emmet Sheehan, 2-1, 5.23 ERA), Friday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM