The Los Angeles Dodgers have boasted one of the best farm systems in all of baseball in recent years, developing top prospects like Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger into Major League All-Stars.
While that’s a positive, it can’t be ignored that the bulk of the organization’s success with their young talent has come on the position player side. But that isn’t to suggest the Dodgers don’t have promising pitching prospects.
Their rotation depth took a bit of a hit this offseason, losing Yu Darvish in free agency, and Brandon McCarthy and Scott Kazmir in a trade with the Atlanta Braves. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts nonetheless remains confident in his pitching staff.
It in some regard is tied to the young arms the Dodgers boast, which are expected to contribute at the Major League level this season.
According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is hoping that some of the young pitchers can begin to do for the rotation what Bellinger, Seager, et al., have for the lineup:
“Look at the position-player side and the young players we’ve broken in over the last three or four years, we need to start doing that with our starters and get to a point where one or two spots are kind of taken down by our good, young pitching and let them have a runway to develop,” Friedman said. “I do think this year will provide some of that. By the end of the season, we’ll have a better idea of who we can pencil in and count on for Spring Training next year.”
Among the pitchers that should get opportunities this season are top prospect Walker Buehler, Brock Stewart, Ross Stripling. Julio Urias may be a factor as well, but not until he fully recovers from last year’s shoulder surgery.
Buehler and Urias both project to be top-of-the-rotation starters, but will be facing innings limits this year due to previous arm injuries. Additionally, Buehler is behind schedule this spring because of back tightness that cropped up.
Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu should fill out the five-man rotation to begin the season, but as has been the case in recent seasons, the Dodgers will rely on depth to get through a 162-game schedule.
