Injuries prevented the Los Angeles Dodgers from lining up their starting rotation exactly how they hoped in the postseason last year.
Season-ending injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone thinned L.A.'s pitching depth, while a midseason injury forced Dave Roberts to be cautious with Yoshinobu Yamamoto's innings. Along with those complications, Shohei Ohtani was already unavailable to pitch for all of 2024.
However in 2025 predictably brought some more rotation injuries, with Glasnow and big-ticket addition Blake Snell both missing time, but by September, the unit was healthy and performing at a high level. Will that be enough for the Dodgers to go back-to-back and win the World Series again?
Here's a breakdown of the Dodgers' postseason rotation and which pitchers could shift to the bullpen.
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Dodgers pitching rotation for 2025 playoffs
1. Blake Snell
Snell will get the ball in the Dodgers' postseason opener partly because that's the way the calendar shook out, but it's hard to say he would be the wrong choice in any scenario. The two-time Cy Young Award winner missed a large chunk of his first season in Dodger blue but was excellent in his final three regular season starts, allowing one earned run over 19 innings. Snell recorded double-digit strikeouts in two of his final three starts and avoided control issues with two or fewer walks in each. Snell might not give the Dodgers seven innings, but he can be an ace in October.
2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yamamoto lived up to lofty expectations in 2025, and he saved some of his best outings for the final stretch. Yamamoto posted a spectacular 0.79 ERA over his final five starts, allowing one home run and striking out 44 in 34 innings. The 27-year-old impressed in the postseason last year and will have an even longer leash this year, so expect Roberts to rely heavily on Yamamoto this October.
3. Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani is in line to start either a wild-card Game 3 or NLDS Game 1 for the Dodgers as L.A. continues to manage his hitting with his pitching. Ohtani built up his arm gradually after returning to the mound in June, starting off as an opener before morphing into a full-blown starter. He lasted six innings in his final regular season start, which also marked his third consecutive scoreless start, and topped out at a season-high 91 pitches. Ohtani likely won't throw 100 pitches in any postseason start, but he won't enter October with many limitations on the mound.
4. Tyler Glasnow
It's easy for Glasnow to fly under the radar with the number of injuries he's dealt with over the years, but as of the end of the regular season, he is healthy and ready to go for the Dodgers. Glasnow was effective when on the mound this season, posting a 3.19 ERA and 10.6 strikeout per nine rate over 18 starts. While not as dominant as Yamamoto or Snell down the stretch, it's hard to ask for much more from your No. 4 starter in the postseason if the Dodgers reach the NLDS.
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Who's out of the Dodgers' rotation?
Teams typically roll with only four starters in the postseason due to the number of off days on the schedule, so two pitchers fell out of the Dodgers' six-man rotation at the end of the regular season. One of them happens to be future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw put together a fairly solid final season, pitching to a 3.36 ERA and 3.55 FIP over 112.1 innings and staying healthy after opening the season on the injured list. The Dodgers want to send Kershaw off in the best way possible, but they know not everyone gets a storybook ending. The 37-year-old won't be on L.A.'s wild-card series roster after starting Game 162, but he is expected to work in a relief role if the Dodgers advance to the NLDS.
Also falling out of the Dodgers' rotation is Emmet Sheehan, who has been one of the team's top arms down the stretch. The 25-year-old Sheehan showed no rust after returning from Tommy John Surgery, posting a 2.82 ERA and 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings over 73.1 innings of work.
Roberts said at the end of the season that Sheehan would shift to a one-inning relief role in October, giving a shaky Dodgers bullpen a much-needed weapon alongside Kershaw.
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