Dodgers: Constructing the ideal rotation for Los Angeles

The Dodgers’ rotation has surprisingly been a strong point for the team so far. There have been hits and misses, but overall the starters have been good. The problem, however, is that there are too many to manage.

The Dodgers have had very good results from their starting pitching to start the season and have benefited from some surprising results. They have used the new 10-day DL to their advantage as they continue to place players on the DL with “injuries.” It is fair to speculate that they are abusing the DL to give rest to all their injury-prone pitchers.

It has allowed them to jumble their surplus of starters and create space, but at some point, they are going to have to settle on a legit starting five as the playoff race approaches.

Today, we will look into the available starting pitchers for the team, and what the ideal starting rotation would be.

Honorable Mentions: Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu

Brandon McCarthy is probably the best option for the Dodgers in the 5^th position but he gets the 6^th spot because of the contract of the fifth guy. Brandon has been pretty good this season but has struggled in his last two starts.

In this deep of a rotation, the Dodgers have to ride the hot hand, and McCarthy simply doesn’t have the hottest hand right now. But check back later, because he will be back in my ideal rotation at some point during the season.

Ryu has been very confusing this season as he either has a very good start or a very bad start but no in between. Ryu is coming off a rough start against Colorado in which he gave up five runs and walked six. I’m not sure if Ryu is nursing an injury or if he just didn’t have his stuff that day, but we can put some of the blame on Coors Field. We will see if he can bounce back his next outing on Thursday vs. the Marlins.