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Dodgers announce Opening Day roster with bullpen in rough shape

By Thomas Carannante|
SURPRISE, ARIZONA - MARCH 31: Relief pitcher Victor Gonzalez #81of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Texas Rangers during the third inning of the MLB spring training game at Surprise Stadium on March 31, 2022 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
SURPRISE, ARIZONA - MARCH 31: Relief pitcher Victor Gonzalez #81of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Texas Rangers during the third inning of the MLB spring training game at Surprise Stadium on March 31, 2022 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Opening Day is here! But the Los Angeles Dodgers won’t be kicking off their season until Friday at 1:10 p.m. PST in Colorado against the Rockies.

On Thursday, though, the team announced the Opening Day roster to give fans a taste of what’s to come, and the expected excitement with the collection of stars all over the diamond was there in full force.

Max Muncy is here (and seemingly healthy enough to start raking!). We’ve got Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts for the next six years. Old faithful Justin Turner is back for his ninth season in LA. Trea Turner, though in a contract year, is ready to get down to business. How about a Cody Bellinger bounce-back season? A Gavin Lux breakout? Chris Taylor doing Chris Taylor things from the start?

It’s all ready, with some solid depth to boot. Good luck sitting these guys down without a headache.

Dodgers reveal Opening Day roster … but the bullpen is in bad shape

OK … now for the bad news. The bullpen will be without Victor Gonzalez (who landed on the injured list with elbow inflammation); Phil Bickford was optioned to Triple-A because he’s not ready for a full workload just yet; Tommy Kahnle won’t be ready until to make his debut until the end of the month; and Caleb Ferguson is also on the IL with an elbow injury that he’s working his way back from.

It’s definitely not the end of the world, but when you look at the thinner starting rotation and the current crop of relievers, there may be more bumps in the road to start the year that fans initially expected.

Andrew Heaney and Tony Gonsolin make up the back end of the rotation, and they rarely provide length. How many innings can Clayton Kershaw handle in the early going coming off a forearm/elbow issue? Can Justin Bruihl, David Price, Evan Phillips, Mitch White, Garrett Cleavinger and Alex Vesia either carve out roles or build on their 2021 campaigns? Is Brusdar Graterol ready to go after a complicated sophomore season? There’s a lot to parse through here.

Factor in Craig Kimbrel, Daniel Hudson and Tyler Anderson being newcomers, and this really is going take a lot of getting used to (and a mix-and-match effort of manager Dave Roberts’ part).

That’s why it’s a marathon and not a sprint, though. The Dodgers will work out the kinks and be full throttle come September/October. You know how this goes, right?

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