At some point, the Dodgers have to be embarrassed about the sheer volume of pitchers they've already lost barely over a third of the way through the season. They've put 28 different arms on the mound (30, if you count Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas) and have had 20 on the IL as of June 7. They've been forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel just to get fresh arms on the roster — waiver claims, minor trades, and minor-league signings abound.
Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and most recently Tony Gonsolin getting re-injured has completely reshaped the Dodgers' rotation. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dustin May are the only two starters from the Opening Day roster who are still active.
Snell went down after two starts, Glasnow after five, and Gonsolin after seven. The former two are on the 60-day IL and neither are expected back until after the All-Star break. It's hard to find reasons to be optimistic about any of this, but at least Dave Roberts' lastest updates suggest that nothing's getting worse.
Snell and Glasnow are both expected to throw bullpens on Tuesday, so some progress is being made there, and Gonsolin underwent an MRI this week to evaluate his elbow (which he underwent Tommy John to repair in 2023) that thankfully showed no signs of structural damage. There's still no specific diagnosis and no timeline to return yet.
Dodgers Injury Updates: Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell bullpens; Tony Gonsolin MRI; Emmet Sheehan progress
In better news, Emmet Sheehan looks close to returning to the majors after undergoing Tommy John in May 2024. He's been on a rehab assignment since May 26 and has pitched eight total innings across the Rookie level and Triple-A. He's only given up a single run while striking out 14, and the Dodgers were reportedly enthusiastic about his early returns.
He's expected to throw four innings in his next outing, his longest so far, after which point Roberts said, "He’s sort of going to be a viable conversation."
Sheehan's last start in the majors was a quality start on Sept. 27, 2023 — six innings, two earned runs, 10 strikeouts — that made him look like a viable candidate for the 2024 Opening Day rotation before he got shut down in spring training. If Sheehan gets through his next (maybe next couple of) rehab starts with some more length, it's more of an inevitability than a possibility that he gets back to the major league level.