Dodgers: Dave Roberts Reveals His Starting Rotation

Dave Roberts roughly spelled out his starting rotation for the first week of the season.

The Dodgers are a little over a week away from having to finalize their Opening Day roster. Manager Dave Roberts and the front office need to make some decisions on the bench and the bullpen, but it sounds like they've made some decisions on the everyday lineup and starting rotation.

As far the rotation, there's a few names that could help fill out the back-end of the staff. There were plenty of predictions and prognostications of who would fill in as the fourth and fifth starters, but now, there's clarity on the matter.

This past Sunday, Roberts laid out what the initial rotation will look like for the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías, and Walker Buehler were all locks for the rotation, but Roberts named his final two starters. LA Times Jack Harris was one of the first to scoop the news.  

Some rotation updates from Dave Roberts:

Tony Gonsolin is projected to be the fifth starter to open the season (along with Buehler, Kershaw, Urías and Heaney). Tyler Anderson likely a multi-inning guy out of bullpen. David Price's role is TBD right now bc he's not built up yet

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) March 27, 2022

Placing Gonsolin in the rotation appears to be a reward for the righty addressing some of his command issues this spring. When Gonsolin is right, he's a more than capable starter. In 2020, Gonsolin finished fourth in NL rookie of the year voting after posting a 2.31 ERA in eight starts in the COVID shortened season.

Last year, Gonsolin struggled with injuries and control. In 55.2 IP, he posted a BB/9 of 5.5.

The big question in the rotation is lefty Andrew Heaney. In 2021, Heaney had the sixth-worst HR/9 (1.88) and sixth-worst ERA (5.48) among starters with at least 120 IP. He owns a career ERA+ of 90, meaning, he's been a below league average pitcher.

In his two spring training appearances, Heaney has yielded ten earned runs in 5.1 IP. 

Granted, the Dodgers aren't solely relying on Heaney to fill out the rotation. Tyler Anderson and David Price will also be options once they're more built up.