Dodgers’ pitching coach says the quiet part out loud as frustrating injuries mount

Last year, after the season was over and the Dodgers had won the World Series despite having lost so many pitchers to the IL throughout the season and three rookies to Tommy John, Andrew Friedman said that the team would reevaluating their pitching development and coaching methods to try to get to the root of the problem. It wasn't that pitching injuries were exclusive to LA. Far from it. Still, Dodgers pitchers spent the most time of any in baseball on the IL in 2024. They were notably at the forefront of the problem.

It was unclear exactly what that reevaluation would entail, or if it would turn into action at all. If it did turn into action, how long would it take to implement changes? If the problem is as widespread as it seems — pitchers coming up through the organization and immediately getting hurt, and pitchers coming into the organization and immediately getting hurt — was a quick fix realistic?

On Tuesday, pitching coach Mark Prior was asked if the Dodgers "internal audit" made way for any tangible changes at the major league level, and he sort of skirted the question.

"I've been around for, I hate to say it now, 23, 24 years. Unfortunately, injuries (are) still in the game at a prevalent (level), at a high level," Prior noted. "I wish it wasn't, but it's an unfortunate side of the game."

Okay, so the answer is no.

Dodgers' attempts to understand their penchant for breaking pitchers haven't gone anywhere, per Mark Prior

Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are already out indefinitely with shoulder issues that the Dodgers don't understand. Snell's MRIs still aren't showing structural damage, but he received a painkilling injection last week and was shut down from throwing. Glasnow just seems to be in complete pain all over his body.

As to the younger, homegrown players that the Dodgers lost last year — Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan, Gavin Stone, Kyle Hurt, and so on — Prior said that the team had discussed "building up pitchers’ workloads in the minors to have them prepped for similar strain in shorter bursts in the majors," but they have yet to show actual evidence of the effectiveness of that proposal.

Basically, the Dodgers seem to have no clue what's going on with their pitchers. Simple deductive reasoning might suggest that they're pushing pitchers to throw often and too hard, but every team is doing that. Maybe there's an element of very bad luck here. Whatever the root cause is, the Dodgers need to find it soon.