Projecting Dodgers' playoff rotation after Yamamoto comeback, Gavin Stone injury

This season, the Dodgers' roster has been bogged down by injury more than any other, and that's not an exaggeration. LA has lost 23 players to the IL throughout the year, and those players have spent a collective 1,906 days off the field through Sept. 4, the most in baseball by a wide margin (the Rangers run in second at 1,639 days). If it already felt like players were getting hurt too often, then even that feeling was an understatement.

There have occasionally seemed to be lights at the end of the tunnel. In the rotation, Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, and Walker Buehler have all taken two trips to the IL each, giving fans consistently confusing timelines to try to follow while raising questions about the state of the pitching staff in the postseason.

Glasnow and Kershaw are still on the IL, both with dubious timelines to return. Glasnow's progress hasn't been as promising as we were initially led to believe, and Kershaw's walking around with a boot to treat a bone spur in his foot. Gavin Stone, seemingly out of nowhere, hit the IL with shoulder inflammation on Friday. If he's able to make it back by October, he'll need to get very lucky.

However, the Dodgers are finally getting Yoshinobu Yamamoto back next Tuesday, crossing at least one worry off the checklist for once. If Glasnow and Kershaw are also able to return for the postseason, what will the rotation look like?

Predicting the Dodgers' 2024 postseason rotation with hopeful returns from injury

1. Tyler Glasnow
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
3. Jack Flaherty
4. Walker Buehler

If all goes as we anticipate it will, this is what the Dodgers' rotation should probably look like in October. That's a big 'if,' though. Glasnow's return looks slightly more likely than Clayton Kershaw's right now, so we'll assume that he makes it back. Both Buehler and Kershaw would be on the outside looking in for the purposes of this projection if Stone were healthy, but ... in this moment, the scuffling Buehler takes the spot almost by default. Kershaw's immediate future is very much in doubt, and if he returns, he may have to get comfortable as a swingman out of the bullpen.

If Glasnow doesn't make it back? Trust in Buehler and Kershaw feels low, at this point, but they'll both probably have to be elevated (pending Kershaw's health). (gulps) Justin Wrobleski? Bobby Miller?

Buehler's last start was more hopeful — five innings pitched, two runs allowed (both homers), six strikeouts — but the Dodgers would much prefer to move forward with something a little more concrete than hope. The next few weeks will be absolutely pivotal for Buehler, especially if Kershaw continues to trend positively.

Even with the potential returns from injury, there are still many reasons to be concerned about this rotation. Glasnow and Kershaw will have very little time in the regular season to ramp up, if they have any at all. Yamamoto hasn't pitched since mid-July. Jack Flaherty might be the only good bet here, and one starter doesn't make a rotation.

So, things are looking a little bleak. All eyes will be on Yamamoto through his last few starts of the season. If he can pick up right where he left off, there could be less to worry about.