Projecting Los Angeles Dodgers' Starting Rotation in Wake of Blake Snell Signing

The Los Angeles Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to starting pitchers, adding Blake Snell to Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and others.

Apr 8, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Blake Snell (7) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

After signing Blake Snell to a five-year, $182 million contract on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers are facing a problem most teams would love to have.

They have too many starting pitchers.

Los Angeles won the World Series in 2024, in spite of a laundry list of debilitating injuries to their pitching staff. Even with most of those starters poised to return in 2025, the Dodgers still weren't going to rest on their laurels and leave themselves vulnerable to the injury bug moving forward.

After all, Shohei Ohtani's recent surgery on his non-throwing shoulder may prevent him from pitching early on in 2025, while Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Kyle Hurt all underwent Tommy John over the summer. Gavin Stone had shoulder surgery in October as well, which is expected to knock him out until 2026.

Despite Ohtani's pitching debut likely being delayed, Sheehan not set to return until after the All-Star break and Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty slated to walk in free agency, there is still a treasure trove of elite arms that Los Angeles has to work with.

As it stands, here is what the Dodgers' rotation could look like to start 2025.

1. Blake Snell, LHP
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP
3. Tyler Glasnow, RHP
4. Clayton Kershaw, LHP
5. Dustin May, RHP
6. Tony Gonsolin, RHP

That six-man rotation even leaves out right-hander Bobby Miller, who thrived as a rookie in 2023 but posted an 8.52 ERA and -1.9 WAR in 2024. If he can get his stuff under control again, he could be a candidate to start some games as well.

Snell makes sense as the Dodgers' Opening Day starter, considering he has two Cy Young Awards under his belt. Over the last seven seasons, the 32-year-old southpaw has a 3.03 ERA and 1.160 WHIP while tossing 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Yamamoto proved why he was worth a $325 million contract as a rookie in 2024, going 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 1.111 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings across his 18 starts. Tyler Glasnow, who inked a five-year, $137 million contract last winter, also impressed by going 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA, 0.948 WHIP and 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Outside of those top three is where things start to get more interesting.

Kershaw is technically a free agent, but all signs point towards the 36-year-old southpaw returning for another go in 2025. While he only had a 4.50 ERA in seven starts last season, he did have a 2.63 ERA through his first five outings. The three-time Cy Young winner also made All-Star appearances in both 2022 and 2023, keeping his ERA below 2.50 in each of those campaigns.

May and Gonsolin both missed all of 2024, but they are slated to return in 2025. May has a 3.10 ERA and 1.049 WHIP in 191.2 career innings, struggling with multiple injuries between 2019 and 2023, while Gonsolin had a 3.19 ERA and 1.051 WHIP in 375.2 innings over that same span.

If both of them can return to their prior selves, that will give the Dodgers an unbelievable amount of depth. Utilizing a six-man rotation will play right into their personnel, considering each player's respective injury history or track record of load management.

By splitting the load more widely, perhaps Los Angeles won't see its rotation fall to pieces by October again. And even if it does, there are some supermely talented options waiting in the wings beyond Miller.

Ohtani won NL MVP exclusively as a designated hitter in 2024. He could repeat if he adds in production on the mound, considering the two-way superstar is 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA, 1.082 WHIP and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings for his career.

Then there's Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, who has been heavily tied to the Dodgers all year long. The 23-year-old ace is technically coming over as an amateur international free agent, meaning it wouldn't cost Los Angeles more than $7 million to add him to their already-stacked cupboard.

Even if Sasaki-to-the-Dodgers is far from a sure thing, the fact that it remains a possibility should scare the rest of MLB. Los Angeles has won two World Series in the last five years, and with this pitching staff at their disposal, the Dodgers' dynasty might only be getting started.

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