NEW YORK -- Back in spring training, the Los Angeles Dodgers' front office constructed the 2024 roster envisioning a playoff rotation that would look something like this:
Game 1: Tyler Glasnow, offseason trade acquisition and owner of some of the most wicked stuff in the game
Game 2: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, $325 million free agent who had been the best pitcher in Japan
Game 3: Bobby Miller, coming off a rookie season in which he was the hardest-throwing starter in the majors
Game 4: Walker Buehler, hopefully healthy and good again after sitting out 2023 after his second Tommy John surgery
Beyond that, the Dodgers still had Clayton Kershaw, who was earmarked for an August return after offseason shoulder surgery. They had Emmet Sheehan, who made 11 starts as a rookie in 2023. They hoped for a breakout season from Gavin Stone and had other top prospects ready for the majors: Kyle Hurt, Landon Knack, River Ryan. And just because you can never have too much depth, they signed veteran lefty James Paxton -- plus it was possible Dustin May would be ready to return from Tommy John surgery late in the season.
It was a remarkable collection of pitching talent. Los Angeles did not want a repeat of 2023, when it reached the playoffs scrambling to find healthy pitchers to start and was eliminated in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Yet, here we are, with the Dodgers once again scrambling to fill their rotation after their pitching plans fell apart. They're down to a three-man starting group -- and one of those, Buehler, won one game in 16 starts in the regular season. Manager Dave Roberts is deploying bullpen games and quick hooks. Somehow, it's working. Unbelievably, the Dodgers just pitched four shutouts in a five-game span, becoming the third team in postseason history to do that, matching the 1905 New York Giants and 2020 Atlanta Braves.
"I believe to get 27 outs, we're very, very equipped to do that in totality with our pitching staff," Roberts said before Los Angeles' Game 3 rout of the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers are five wins away from winning the World Series, a minimum of 135 outs needed -- or more depending on the number of games required in each series. How will they get there? Let's dive into their strategy and how each pitcher can help win them a title.