Whereas Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery nonetheless wait for his or her free-agent payday, two powerhouses that have been additionally in want of beginning pitching have chosen different routes. Oh, the Dodgers did splash free-agent money, it was only for one pitcher who’s by no means pitched within the majors (Yoshinubu Yamamoto) and one who received’t pitch in 2024 (Shohei Ohtani). The Dodgers wanted multiple starter for subsequent yr, although, they usually took the identical route as Atlanta did, bypassing the free brokers and going through commerce. However in LA’s pickup of Tyler Glasnow and Atlanta’s of Chris Sale, they’re each seemingly choosing pitchers whom they received’t actually should care what they produce between April and September. Which is nice, as a result of neither pitcher has specialised in doing a lot, in quantity, in these months.
Their intentions change into a little bit clearer when learning how each groups bit it final October. Due to Charlie Morton’s harm, Atlanta as soon as once more went on the Phillies mainly one starter brief, particularly as Max Fried was coming off an harm to begin within the playoffs and wasn’t fairly the Fried he’d been. It was the identical story in 2022, as Spencer Strider got here again from harm to flame out after one journey by means of the order at Residents Financial institution Park.
As for the Dodgers, they entered final yr’s Divisional Spherical with mainly solely a half-baked Clayton Kershaw and a pair guys they discovered on the airport who had missed their flight and have been simply staring on the board. They have been fairly simply swatted apart by a Diamondbacks crew on a heater.
Each groups this winter are shopping for insurance coverage on that with pitchers whom they will’t presumably count on to hold a full load within the common season, and will very effectively not even ask to. The Dodgers traded for Glasnow, Atlanta, Sale. The final three seasons the 2 have mixed for 68 begins. Sale hasn’t seen the over of 150 innings in six years, and Glasnow by no means has. These aren’t innings-eaters, and, in actual fact, deal with innings like anybody who has simply ingested ipecac.
And neither the Dodgers nor Atlanta actually should care, particularly the latter. Whereas Fried, Morton, Strider and Bryce Elder aren’t assured to make it by means of an entire season unscathed, they’ll virtually definitely cobble sufficient innings collectively to make up for no matter Sale can’t do. And even when they will’t, Atlanta doesn’t actually have to fret about jeopardizing a playoff spot. Perhaps the Phillies lastly work out what baseball is within the first half of a season, however it’s probably not their factor. The Mets are rebuilding, the Nationals are too, and nobody’s ever been certain the Marlins have any concept what they’re doing regardless of having a playoff spot land on them final yr. Atlanta’s solely precedence will likely be ensuring Sale is firing come the playoffs, the place his high-strikeout, low-walk repertoire (he nonetheless struck out a tick beneath 30 % of hitters confronted final yr) will play effectively, even when it’s solely a few times by means of a lineup. Keep in mind, Atlanta confirmed as much as the final two postseasons with barely one man who might do this, and not less than doubling that would make an enormous distinction. And Sale has playoff pedigree, although it was additionally six years in the past with Boston.
Glasnow is perhaps the one pitcher on the planet extra fragile than Sale, as he’s by no means carried a full workload as Sale has. He’s dominant when he’s on the mound, even when that’s solely twice a month. The Dodgers have even much less fear about their playoff availability, as solely the Diamondbacks seem like even able to inhabiting the identical time zone as them within the NL West, they usually have been nonetheless 16 video games off the tempo throughout the season, no matter assertion three video games in October make. The Dodgers managed 100 wins final yr with a mangled rotation and now they’ve gotten Walker Buehler again whereas including Yamamoto and Glasnow. Bobby Miller has a yr’s extra expertise and phrase has it the Dodgers may even be a house for Montgomery, too. The Dodgers must flip to a six-man rotation in 2025 to accommodate Ohtani anyway, so it might hardly be out of left discipline for them to take action now to guard Glasnow and maintain him prepared to fireplace at hitters in October.
Regardless of the Dodgers placing up essentially the most dominant decade in baseball historical past, they’ve change into transfixed on the blemish that the one World Sequence they’ve claimed in that stretch is the Covid one, not precisely the full-tilt boogie. There have been myriad causes the Dodgers haven’t navigated the 11 wins mandatory come the postseason, solely a few of which have been throughout the Dodgers’ management. Nevertheless it’s clear they assume having one other dominant starter is one in every of them, therefore the commerce for a really ouchy Glasnow.
With each Glasnow and Sale, it’s probably we’ll see plenty of four- and five-inning begins from them throughout the season, IL journeys for the sniffles, and six-man rotations used within the hotter months to maintain them as near encased in bubble-wrap as each groups can get. All these groups should do to really feel like they obtained the ROI they wished is to observe each throw 5 – 6 innings with 9 Ks a pair occasions within the postseason. Every thing earlier than that’s preamble or meaningless.
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