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The Los Angeles Dodgers did their best to avoid a return of their biggest problem from last year, but even their best efforts haven’t worked.
After the team suffered several high-profile pitcher injuries en route to their latest World Series championship, the front office added Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and others to the pitching staff. But the Dodgers have more than a dozen pitchers on the injured list anyway and it’s far from certain that their team will ever be at full strength.
“There is always the threat of setbacks, like what happened with Evan Phillips, who underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery Wednesday for an injury that was initially expected to sideline him for only two weeks,” Jack Harris noted for the Los Angeles Times. “And even once pitchers do come back, their levels of performance are subject to variance.”
Those concerns are enough to drive hopes that the Dodgers will reinforce their staff with some additions before the trade deadline. It seems like some difference-making arms could be made available, such as Tomoyuki Sugano from the Baltimore Orioles or Andrew Heaney from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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But the Dodgers were so aggressive this past winter in order to avoid paying a premium at midseason. And it seems they will still avoid doing so despite the persistent injuries, according to an update from Harris that many Dodgers fans will find disappointing.
“Even if only half of the arms currently on the IL get back to where they were before, they could still have a pitching staff capable of contending for another World Series title,” he noted. “Because of that, it seems unlikely they’ll make overly aggressive moves on the trade market leading up to the July 31 deadline. … For now, they continue to trust that pitchers such as Snell, (Tyler) Glasnow and (Shohei) Ohtani will be impact contributors for the stretch run of the season.”
Refusal to take an aggressive approach at the trade deadline might serve as a bummer for Dodgers fans, but it could be a necessary symptom of assembling such a deep and talented roster.
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