Dodgers' postseason rotation taking shape

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- After months of bad news on the injury front, the Dodgers finally started to get some encouraging information regarding their starting rotation this week.

The biggest boost was getting Yoshinobu Yamamoto back on the mound after a nearly three-month absence. Yamamoto shined in his return, striking out eight over four strong innings of work against the Cubs. Getting the Japanese right-hander back -- and especially this version of him -- gives the Dodgers much more confidence in the rotation as they close out the regular season and prepare for the postseason.

Another big step in the right direction could come over the weekend, when Tyler Glasnow throws a simulated game at Truist Park. If those two innings go well, the next step would be to get Glasnow back in a big league game, likely against the Marlins on Thursday or the Rockies on Friday.

With Yamamoto back and Glasnow on the cusp of a return, the Dodgers’ starting rotation plans look a bit clearer heading into the postseason. Both Yamamoto and Glasnow would slot in with Jack Flaherty to handle the first three games of a series for the Dodgers. The question now is how badly do the Dodgers need a fourth starter to step up?

“I think you do,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “That fourth game is still a very important playoff game, and so given the fact that you’re using guys in the bullpen the first three games, a fourth-game bullpen game isn’t feasible. And also, most importantly, [we have] to get to the postseason. We still need to get there.”

The Dodgers enter Friday with a five-game lead atop the National League West. Their odds of not making the postseason are almost zero with 16 games left in the regular season.

To Roberts’ point, however, getting a fourth starter to establish himself could be a key for the Dodgers, not only in the NLDS, but in a potential seven-game NLCS and World Series.

The Dodgers have plenty of options on the roster. The problem is that there are some injuries and plenty of inconsistencies among those options. If Clayton Kershaw or Gavin Stone can make their way back from their respective injuries, that would be a big boost for the Dodgers and that spot in the rotation would most likely be given to one of them. Neither Kershaw nor Stone are a given to make it back this season, though.

Behind them, Los Angeles has Walker Buehler, Bobby Miller and Landon Knack as options. Buehler has the most postseason experience of the group and has pitched in plenty of big games, but he has struggled in his return from a second Tommy John surgery. The next two or three starts to close out the regular season will be big for the right-hander.

Knack has shown some good stuff in his limited time with the Dodgers and could get a look if the other options struggle down the stretch. Miller, on the other hand, appears to be the least likely option given his immense struggles this season. After giving up six runs to the Cubs on Wednesday, Miller has an 8.17 ERA this season. He's scheduled to get one more start through the rotation against the Marlins. It’s unclear what happens after that.

Finding out who that fourth starter is will be among the top things the Dodgers will focus on the rest of the way. That, of course, is also contingent on the current options staying healthy over the next three weeks.

“You have a couple guys that are coming back, one came back yesterday [in Yamamoto] and you have a couple other guys that are sort of teetering in and out with performance, and we need to get there,” Roberts said. “They need to pitch well to do that, first and foremost.”