Dodgers rotation in shambles after out-of-nowhere Gavin Stone injury update

Just when you thought the Dodgers' pitching woes couldn't get any worse, they have. And this time, they're losing their most faithful and steady presence through the entire season. Maybe we should've taken Gavin Stone's struggle through his last start on Aug. 31 as a sign that something was off, but fans were hoping against hope that the Dodgers would only be getting good news about the pitching staff through these last few weeks of the season.

But LA's pitching injuries might as well be contagious as this point. On Friday afternoon, the Dodgers placed Stone on the 15-day IL with shoulder inflammation, taking away their only starter who has managed to make all of his scheduled starts this year and maybe putting him out of commission for the rest of the season -- and, most importantly, the postseason, which is likely to dramatically alter LA's playoff picture.

The Dodgers were forced to call up Justin Wrobleski again, who was just sent down on Monday after a disastrous 5 1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks.

Dodgers shock fans by placing Gavin Stone on the IL with shoulder inflammation

Stone is the 24th Dodger to hit the IL this season, and probably the very last player they wanted to lose. He joins Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow, leaving the rotation with Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller, and soon enough Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is scheduled to return next Tuesday. If you were hoping that Yamamoto's return would mean the blessed end of Miller's brief stay back up in the majors, you're going to be disappointed.

Glasnow and Kershaw's timelines are murky, and there's still no guarantee they'll be back before the end of the regular season or for the postseason. The Dodgers have yet to shed light on Stone's injury, but we unfortunately wouldn't be surprised if this prevents him from pitching in October as well.

So for now, the postseason rotation is Yamamoto, Flaherty, Buehler, and Miller. It's hard to say how Yamamoto will look after two months on the IL, Flaherty has been solid, and Buehler and Miller have been ... not. Things are looking pretty grim.