Why the 2021 Dodgers could have the greatest rotation of all time

3. Trevor Bauer gives Dodgers a truly special three-headed monster

Every starting rotation starts with its ace, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have three pitchers in the starting rotation who would be aces on nearly every single team. Seriously. The only teams that wouldn’t have Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler or Trevor Bauer as its ace would be the New York Mets, New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians.

That means that the Dodgers’ third-best pitcher, whoever it ends up being, is going to be better than 26 of the 30 “aces” in the league. That alone is something to write home about.

Kershaw is not the same Cy Young-winning Kershaw, but if last season (and the MLB Playoffs) are any indication, he still has a lot in the tank. There is this misconception that Kershaw is an old horse who will soon regress heavily, but time is on his side. Kershaw is still only 33 years old and is coming off the smallest workload of his career.

Walker Buehler is a legitimate top-five Cy Young candidate and could win the award. A slow start in 2019 and a blister in 2020 kept him from reaching that potential, but we have all seen how good Buehler is when it matters most.

The Dodgers are 7-2 in Buehler’s last nine postseason starts. Buehler has thrown 49.1 innings with a 1.28 ERA and 68 strikeouts.

Finally, we have the reigning National League Cy Young, who absolutely dominated hitters last season to the tune of a 1.73 ERA, 276 ERA+ and 0.795 WHIP.

While it probably won’t happen because someone else in the NL will step up, the Dodgers have a rotation where it is legitimately possible for the team to finish first, second and third in Cy Young voting.

And it doesn’t stop there.

2. David Price and Julio Urias are the most over-qualified fourth and fifth starters in recent history

There is the possibility of the Los Angeles Dodgers trading David Price in a salary dump deal, and there certainly are teams that should be interested in Price. However, if the Dodgers have no intent of saving any money over the luxury tax threshold, then Price becomes the most over-qualified fourth guy in the league.

Seriously. David Price would be the second-best pitcher on most staffs in the league and would even be the best pitcher on some of the worst teams in the league. He is a former Cy Young winner, after all.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have exceptional talent at 4 and 5.

The Dodgers are not going to get prime Price. However, they are getting a guy who is extremely fresh (having not played in 2020) and is pitching in the National League for the first time in his career on a team that historically maximizes starting pitchers (see: Zack Greinke).

Then there is Julio Urias. Urias’ tenure with the team has been up and down, but he become a Dodger legend for his performance out of the bullpen in the NLCS and World Series — though he should be starting in 2021.

It was not long ago that Urias was the best pitching prospect in the sport and he really has not gotten an extended chance at being a starter. Despite that, Urias still has a career 3.20 ERA.

It might seem like hopeful thinking to predict Urias to have a sub-3.00 ERA, but all of the signs are there. He has the stuff to be successful, has really good statcast numbers and is still only 24 years old! He is as young as Walker Buehler was in 2019.

But it does not stop there.

1. Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin don’t even crack the top five

Any MLB team is lucky to field five starters that can be consistent, let alone five starters who are all above-average. The Dodgers have five starters who could legitimately all be All-Stars in 2021. It does not end there.

Most teams would die for one extra starter that could at least provide innings in the case of an injury, like Ross Stripling did for the team over the past few seasons. The Dodgers don’t have just one of those options. They have two.

The depth in the Dodgers rotation is overflowing.

And they don’t just have two starters who could fill in if there is an injury. They have two starters who would be the third-best pitcher on most MLB staffs. The Dodgers could legitimately lose 40% of their starting rotation and replace it with great young arms.

Dustin May has one of the nastiest fastballs in the game and posted a 2.57 ERA last season. Tony Gonsolin is not as flashy as May but was even better than him last season. He posted a 2.31 ERA in 2020, has a career ERA under 3.00, and sports a career WHIP under 1.000.

What the Dodgers do with May and Gonsolin is anyone’s guess, but the team won’t miss a beat if someone gets hurt — and even if the team somehow lost 60% of its starting rotation, they still would have Josiah Gray, MLB Pipeline’s 58th-ranked prospect, to call up in case of emergency.

The Dodgers are seven talented starters deep with a top five that is full of All-Star potential with a top three full of Cy Young potential. The talent of this rotation truly is unprecedented.

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