Nothing could be more on the nose than me prepping a custom for a post about how flea-bitten the Dodgers are this season of a guy that lands on the IL right as I'm writing the post. That is...infuriatingly hilarious.
Miguel Rojas, who was already a pretty strong fill-in for Mookie Betts with his best season since leaving Miami, has landed on the IL, right at the moment where Tyler Glasnow, who was unsurprisingly finding success in LA, is activated. Right now, the Dodgers' injured list is basically a list of 12 players the Dodgers could really use right now. Ranging from crucial lineup pieces like Mookie Betts and Max Muncy, bullpen assets like Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier, and starting pieces like Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Emmett Sheehan, Michael Grove, Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. As good as they are right now, imagine how much better they would be if none of those guys got hurt.
And it's showing at this point in the season. River Ryan and Justin Wrobleski, both of whom should in all likelihood be still coming to prominence in Oklahoma City at the moment, are in the MLB rotation doing their best. Ryan did well enough in a premier start, but this is not where he thought he'd be at this point. Nobody thought that all this pressure would be put upon someone like Justin Wrobleski in July. Hell, Kyle Hurt, who did pretty well for himself on a call-up, now needs surgery and will be out for a year, so that's another young option done. And that's not even bringing up Bobby Miller, who's been terrible this year with an 8 ERA, and is actually one of the few people allowed to go back to OKC with the rotation in this state. The good news is that Glasnow just got activated, so even with James Paxton released, which...I don't agree with, he was 8-2 for god's sakes, you will at least have Glasnow, Gavin Stone and Landon Knack, all of whom know what they're doing and are trusted.
But like...the Dodgers' rotation should not be down to a trade piece and two rookies to lead off. All the money this team spent on Yamamoto and he gets hurt immediately. Kershaw will be back tonight, but in what state?? Hell, one of the best pitchers on the team is rehabbing from Tommy John at the moment. Forget the fact that he's hitting .314 with 30 homers and is likely on his way to an MVP. In an ideal world he'd be pitching as well, as would a lot of people.
And thus the Dodgers' mega team has deflated significantly in the last month. They're still comfortably in first, comfortably over .500, but the mystique is gone. Now you can probably beat these guys, even if Ohtani shows up. The Phillies and Tigers had no trouble. They've been strong since the ASG break, but who knows what the next thing to fall off will be.
If enough guys get healthy at the right time, this may not be much of an issue, but if it is the Dodgers will never hear the end of it. They had the team, and couldn't keep it healthy. And it'll be hard to solve that problem in the coming years.
Coming Tonight: Somehow, in a bleak period for the Yankees, this guy started hitting.
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