The Dodgers introduced this night that right-hander Gavin Stone underwent surgical procedure on his proper shoulder on October 9. The surgical procedure was carried out by Dr. Neal ElAttrache and figures to trigger Stone to overlook your complete 2025 season.
Stone, 26 subsequent week, made his massive league debut with the Dodgers final yr to lackluster outcomes however loved a breakout marketing campaign this season upon being compelled into the rotation by quite a lot of pitching accidents. Stone wound up being one of many membership’s most dependable pitchers for a lot of the yr as key gamers like Bobby Miller, Walker Buehler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow all fell by the wayside all through important parts of the season because of accidents, ineffectiveness, or a mixture thereof. Throughout that point, Stone stepped as much as publish a stable 3.53 ERA (109 ERA+) with a 4.01 FIP in 140 1/3 innings of labor throughout 25 begins, together with an completely dominant 2.73 ERA in his first 15 begins of the season.
Sadly for the Dodgers, Stone started to flag late within the season as he made it out of the fifth inning simply thrice after the All-Star break, pitching to a 4.12 ERA and 5.00 FIP in his remaining eight begins of the yr earlier than he too was positioned on the IL in early September because of what on the time was termed proper shoulder irritation. The soreness endured all through the month of September and ultimately led to him being roughly dominated out for the membership’s postseason push just below a month in the past. On the time, there was little indication that Stone wouldn’t be able to go come Spring Coaching 2025 however that’s now not the case because the teen will doubtless have to attend till 2026 to observe up on a powerful rookie marketing campaign.
Whereas the information modifications little for the Dodgers as they give the impression of being to tackle the Mets within the NLCS tomorrow in hopes of advancing to their first World Collection for the reason that shortened 2020 season, Stone’s absence is a devastating blow to the membership’s 2025 beginning rotation. With Shohei Ohtani anticipated to return to the membership’s rotation early subsequent yr, it appears doubtless that the Dodgers will make use of a six-man rotation subsequent yr because the Angels did whereas Ohtani was pitching for them. Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Glasnow determine to occupy three of these six slots, however the Dodgers have little in the best way of certainty past that group.
Miller will return to the membership subsequent yr however struggled to an 8.52 ERA in 13 begins this yr, leaving questions relating to how keen the membership could be to depend on him for a big variety of begins subsequent yr. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin Could each determine to return to the mound early subsequent yr, however can be coming off prolonged absences that might make them questionable decisions to pencil in for 30 begins a chunk. Clayton Kershaw might return however is undecided about his future after a largely misplaced season because of harm, whereas each Buehler and Jack Flaherty are ticketed totally free company this November.
Given the quite a few questions the Dodgers face relating to their rotation depth this winter, it appears doubtless that bolstering their beginning pitching corps can be a precedence for the membership this winter at the same time as they boast quite a lot of probably robust choices. This winter’s free agent class of starters is headlined by Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Max Fried, and Flaherty. The Dodgers have proven little hesitance about purchasing on the prime of the free agent market, so it’s definitely possible to think about that caliber of title being in play for the membership. Even wanting past that group, nonetheless, L.A. might nonetheless bolster their rotation depth with mid-tier choices like Nathan Eovaldi, Sean Manaea, or Luis Severino and even seek for a bounce-back candidate or two as they’ve achieved with Tyler Anderson and Noah Syndergaard in recent times.