Dodgers' Bobby Miller problem remains major concern after poor showing vs Cardinals

Tyler Glasnow headed back to the IL with elbow tendonitis on Friday, putting the Dodgers down another starter. Again. Glasnow and the Dodgers tried to be reassuring — he expects to spend only the minimum amount of time on the IL — but that still leaves two starts when LA will be without their ace.

To fill the gap, the Dodgers called up Bobby Miller from his exile in Triple-A. Miller was sent down in a surprising move on July 10, after struggling heavily over four starts following a two-month absence with shoulder inflammation. He pitched just 17 1/3 innings over those starts for a 9.87 ERA and .338 batting average against.

He didn't fare that well in Oklahoma City either; on July 27, he pitched just 3 2/3 innings and gave up six runs on six hits while also dealing with adductor tightness that forced him to miss a start.

But the Dodgers didn't have many options when they lost Glasnow, so Miller was their best one. In his return to the majors on Saturday against the Cardinals, he pitched less than five innings and gave up eight hits and four earned runs while only striking out one batter.

Bobby Miller's return outing against Cardinals didn't give Dodgers fans much hope about a bounce back

The Dodgers fell to the Cardinals 5-2, after taking an early lead thanks to a Freddie Freeman RBI single. Shohei Ohtani also drilled his 38th home run of the season, but that's where the Dodgers' offense ended. The four Cardinals runs Miller gave up included a two-run homer to Alec Burleson and a solo shot to Masyn Winn. Brent Honeywell also gave up a solo homer to Nolan Arenado in the eighth, which very well may have been the moment that got him DFA'ed the next day.

Miller is likely to stay in the majors for as long as Glasnow is absent, but it reflects how poor the state of the Dodgers' pitching depth is at the moment. They could always recall Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack (again), but if this is the rotation the Dodgers have to go into the postseason with — or fend off the Diamondbacks and Padres with, for that matter — things could get very dicey.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that Glasnow really does only need the minimum IL stint, and that Yoshinobu Yamamoto can keep making progress through his rehab from injury. The Dodgers' playoff lives depend on it.