On Monday, the Los Angeles Dodgers confirmed the obvious: left-handed starter Scott Kazmir is not going to open the season in the rotation. Rather Kazmir, whose velocity has been on the wrong side of 85 mph (that is to say it’s been near 85), will hit the 15-day disabled list due to his bothersome left hip:
Kazmir told Roberts it's the left hip that has cut into velocity.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 27, 2017
Thereafter, the Dodgers confirmed some other news: Hyun-Jin Ryu, who has appeared in one big-league game over the past two seasons, had made the rotation -- thus leaving one spot for Brandon McCarthy and Alex Wood to tussle over:
Roberts said final spot between McCarthy and Wood.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 27, 2017
That combination means two things: 1. the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation will feature Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Ryu; and 2. in all likelihood, the Dodgers’ rotation depth is going to be tested all year long. Again.
Last season, Maeda was the only Dodgers starter who didn’t spend time on the disabled list. While Kershaw has normally been a horse, he missed time in 2016 due to his back. Even if Kershaw takes all his turns, he’ll be flanked by Hill (a health-related question mark), Ryu (a bigger health-related question mark), and whomever wins the last rotation spot (the biggest question mark, be it in health or performance). The Dodgers are going to need more arms, basically.
The good news, then, is that the Dodgers have a number of additional options who are slated to begin the season in the minors: Julio Urias is undoubtedly one of Los Angeles’ five best starters, yet the Dodgers are again limiting his innings; Ross Stripling posted a 98 ERA+ in 100 innings last season, and could slot into a number of big-league rotations without looking out of place; and there’s also Brock Stewart, a relative unknown who the Dodgers seem to like quite a bit despite his home-run problems.
In other words, the Dodgers would appear to have the kind of rotation depth that’s needed to roll with a risky starting five. (To think, this is after trades over the past 12 months that sent away Jose De Leon, Grant Holmes, and Jharel Cotton.) Of course, there’s a chance the Dodgers encounter the kind of disaster scenario that plagued them late last summer -- where Kershaw and Hill are each hurt -- but, on paper anyway, the Kazmir injury shouldn’t impact the Dodgers. And that’s not because of luck -- that’s by design.
