Saturday, July 13, 2024
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2024
Since the end of May, the Los Angeles Dodgers have played mediocre baseball. This is not good for a team with world championship aspirations.
After the Dodgers spent over $1.3 billion this past offseason, almost every baseball-knowledgeable person thought the Dodgers were almost guaranteed a world championship. Once again, the Dodgers have proven a team cannot buy a championship.
Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernàndez have performed better than expected, and they are going to the All-Star Game. Before June, both Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto performed like aces of the Dodger starting rotation. Yamamoto strained his right rotator cuff, and nobody knows when he can return to the starting rotation. Glasnow struggled mostly in June, and now he is on the IL with a stiff lower back.
The Dodgers expect Glasnow to return to the starting rotation on Sunday after the All-Star break. However, Glasnow is going to shatter his career-high in innings and appearances. He might not be dominant for the rest of the season.
The only pitcher active still from the Opening Day roster is James Paxton, the weak link in the rotation. The Dodgers expected Walker Buehler to return to the rotation with his usual dominance after missing two years with his second Tommy John surgery.
Buehler has a 5.84 ERA. His velocity was great, but the inability to land his off-speed pitches for strikes caused his unsuccess. Now, Buehler is a thrower and not a pitcher.
Currently, Buehler is on the IL with a hip problem, and the Dodgers hope he figures out how to succeed in the major leagues. The Dodgers don’t have any guarantees on Buehler, who is a free agent this upcoming offseason.
Entering the 2024 season, the Dodgers expected Bobby Miller to be a major part of their rotation. After making three starts, he went on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. He returned in mid-June, but he didn’t have the command to be successful. On July 10th, the Dodgers sent Miller to Triple-A to find his confidence and command of the strike zone.
The Dodgers are relying on Clayton Kershaw to return strong from the first arm surgery of his long career. He attempted to perform with an injury in the last half of the 2023 season. He did well until the first game of the 2023 NLDS where he couldn’t get out of the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
For certain with his knowledge of the major leagues, Kershaw will succeed even if he doesn’t have his best stuff, but he needs help going into the playoffs.
With the trading deadline coming up on July 30th, the Dodgers need to acquire at least two great starters to have a chance of going to the World Series. Dustin May, who is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery since 2021, isn’t going to contribute to the 2024 Dodgers. Andrew Friedman must get his wallet out of his pocket and get willing to part with minor league prospects.
If Friedman doesn’t obtain great starters, the Dodgers will disappoint in the 2024 playoffs.
