Dodgers: Pre-Spring Training 25-man Roster Predictions

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LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 28: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers delivers the pitch during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox in Game Five of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium on October 28, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Every single year the story is the same. How will the Dodgers build a four-man rotation? This is about who follows Clayton Kershaw and that is obvious.

Kershaw not only heads up the rotation for me and anyone else taking the picks for a roster but, he should be making his team-record ninth straight start on Opening Day. Kershaw is not penciled into the rotation, he is written with permanent marker. Kershaw is on the roster.

The story begins when you look past Kershaw. Who will go behind one of the best pitchers to ever live? This year, Walker Buehler is my early pick to be the number two starter.

Buehler put together an eye-opening performance last year and particularly as the season came to an end when he owned the Rockies in game 163 to decide the NL West winner. Buehler possesses one of the best fastball-curveball combos in the league and he is only 24-years-old.

Buehler is on the early list of contenders for a Cy Young Award and he is also my pick to make an Opening Day start should something happen to Kershaw over the course of spring training.

Next in line will be Rich Hill. Hill is entering his age 39 season and he still plays at the level of someone much younger than himself.

The big question for Hill is his health. Over the last three years, the storied veteran has pitched just 378.2 innings with a 162 game average of just 126 frames. The Dodgers have made it clear that his health is not an issue and the team has the depth to replace him if need be.

Putting health aside, Hill is the third best starter on this roster and he will be written in the rotation as such.

The fourth and fifth spots get a little tricky. The Dodgers traded away Alex Wood over the offseason and Ross Stripling is in my bullpen, not my rotation. For the reason, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda take up the remaining two slots in the starting five.

The story for both Ryu and Maeda is they can do whatever the team needs. Both can pitch from the bullpen or the rotation and both would be happy to do either. Maeda is slightly more suited than Ryu to do relief work but that is no matter as I do not have Stripling making a push into the rotation unless there is an injury like there was last year.

Thus, my rotation is as follows:

Rotation- Kershaw, Buehler, Hill, Ryu, Maeda

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