The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading into October with a pitching staff that general manager Brandon Gomes straight up called “about as deep… as we’ve ever had,” and honestly, it’s hard to argue. They’ve been on a championship run already, winning in ’24 with a bullpen-heavy approach and then flipping the script in ’25 with a stellar rotation carrying a shaky ‘pen. This year? They might have fused the best of both worlds, even with Shohei Ohtani not pitching since July 3 and out for the postseason.
This Rotation Is Absolute Firepower
Seriously, Gomes isn’t kidding about the depth. Manager Dave Roberts even said they could “put all four guys in a hat, and run them out there.” When Ohtani went down, the Dodgers didn’t just shrug, they went out and traded for two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on August 2 to fill that slot. That’s a serious move right there. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been the absolute rock, making every start for the second year in a row. And then you’ve got Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, who both missed months with injured-list stints, but got back on the mound with enough time to get totally ready for the grind of October.
Check out these numbers from this season:
* **Tarik Skubal:** 26 Starts, 158.7 IP, 2.72 ERA, 4.4% BB rate, 30.0% K rate. (Those numbers include his time with the Tigers before the trade, wild!)
* **Yoshinobu Yamamoto:** 28 Starts, 185 IP, 2.53 ERA, 5.9% BB rate, 25.7% K rate.
* **Blake Snell:** 9 Starts, 62 IP, 1.90 ERA, 9.2% BB rate, 31.8% K rate.
* **Tyler Glasnow:** 13 Starts, 74 IP, 3.53 ERA, 8.7% BB rate, 34.0% K rate.
Those are some nasty arms, giving them serious options every time they send someone to the bump.
Quality Starts For Days (And Postseasons)
The Dodgers aren’t just getting starts, they’re getting *quality* starts. This season, they led the entire major leagues with 83 quality starts. That’s eight more than the second-best team, the Philadelphia Phillies! To put that in perspective, that’s their most quality starts since 2015 when they had 95. When teams get a quality start in MLB, they win almost 70% of the time, going 1,094-484 this regular season with a collective 1.74 ERA from those starters. The Dodgers are just racking up those W’s behind their guys.
And last October, these same pitchers (Yamamoto, Snell, Ohtani, and Glasnow, pre-Skubal) were insane. They started all 17 postseason games, rocking a collective 2.55 ERA over 113 innings with a ridiculous 127 strikeouts. Yamamoto even pitched the final eight outs of the World Series Game 7 *the day after starting Game 6* and had the Dodgers’ first two complete postseason games since ’88. Snell was out there throwing eight and seven innings in his starts. This isn’t just a regular season flex, this is an October-proven staff.
So, as the Dodgers gear up for another shot at the title, their pitching looks absolutely legit. With Yamamoto leading the charge, Skubal slotting in, and Snell and Glasnow back in prime form, it’s going to be wild to see what these guys can do on the mound as they chase another ring. Get ready for some serious October baseball from this rotation.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by True Blue LA.
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