Dodgers Injury Update: Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Brusdar Graterol

Last Friday, the Dodgers' rotation was pared down even further when they were hit with some pretty devastating news: Gavin Stone, their only starter who's stayed healthy all year, would be going onto the IL with shoulder inflammation, threatening the rest of his season and likely his chances of competing in the postseason.

Landon Knack was called up to replace him, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will return to the Dodgers on Tuesday to bring the count back up to five, but aside from Yamamoto and Jack Flaherty, this rotation is looking far from intimidating.

Apart from Yamamoto's, Tyler Glasnow's absence has been the most deeply felt. He's been on the 15-day IL for almost a month now, even though he was initially optimistic that his stay would only last the minimum amount of time. His progress has been slow, and it's called into question his ability to come back at all.

Over the weekend, Glasnow threw his first bullpen session since going onto the IL, but he only threw fastballs. After bullpen sessions, he'll have to pitch to live hitters, and then will probably need to complete a rehab assignment. Dave Roberts said "time is of the essence," which is stating the obvious, and there's still no guarantee that they'll be able to get him back before the end of the year.

Dodgers Injury Updates: Tyler Glasnow throwing bullpen sessions, Gavin Stone emphasizes LA's injury problem, Brusdar Graterol return

Stone was the 98th Dodgers pitcher to go onto the IL since 2021, the most in the majors. The LA Times posited that the Dodgers could be the "epicenter of the [pitching injury crisis]," and noted that they currently have six homegrown players down with a major elbow or shoulder surgery. Brandon Gomes and Andrew Friedman said that the club would be "looking into" the catalyzing issue, but it should be pretty clear. Pitchers like to blame the pitch clock, and the lack of foreign substances has also been noted as placing more strain on mechanics, but pitchers are also having throw much harder now than they did in years previous (and consistently so).

Stone hasn't missed a start all year and averages 94.9 MPH on his fastball and 95.3 on his sinker, along with throwing five other pitches. With that kind of velocity and how regularly he's been tasked with throwing five or more innings, it's sort of surprising that he didn't go down sooner. The Dodgers definitely have some "looking in" to do, and probably some changes in player development from the ground up that they need to institute.

In better news, Brusdar Graterol will head back to the Dodgers (again) ahead of Yamamoto's return. He completed his rehab assignment with two innings pitched and one run given up, and now he'll get a proper return to the majors after throwing just eight pitches on Aug. 8 in his season debut.