Dave Roberts Reveals How He'll Decide Who Wins Competition for Fifth Starter in Rotation
With Walker Buehler out until May as he continues to rehabilitate from Tommy John surgery, the Los Angeles Dodgers have to decide with who will be the final starter in their five-man rotation.
There are several contenders for the spot, including Gavin Stone, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Ryan Yarbrough.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts broke down how the Dodgers will decide which of the contenders earns that starting spot in the rotation.
“I think certainly performance. Where they’re at physically. Opponent is going to play a little bit of a part of it. Right now, as we look out, that decision won’t have to happen until April. So I think right now, there’s a big bucket of pitchers that are just going to continue to build up. And like I said the other day, they’re just going to keep building up to three, four, five innings and we’ll see where we’re at, and hopefully we have some tough decisions. I think that right now, where we’re at with starting pitching, we’re kind of allowing for a lot of latitude because things always happen. Guys get sore. And you got to kind of move things around. So there’s a good three or four guys … who could fill that void. So we’re just going to kind of keep building them up and having those conversations constantly.”
— Dave Roberts, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group
Of the four primary contenders, Yarbrough has the most experience. Yarbrough has been in the major leagues since 2018. However, Yarbrough had just a 4.89 ERA after he was traded to the Dodgers in 2023.
Both Stone and Sheehan made their major league debuts in 2023. In limited action, Stone gave up 31 earned runs in 31 innings (a 9.00 ERA) and Sheehan had a 4.92 ERA. Grove made his debut in 2022, and posted a 6.13 ERA in 18 games in 2023.
These four will need to make a strong impression over Spring Training and practice the next month if they want their shot at getting that starting spot.
