Dodgers starter Gavin Stone ‘very unlikely’ to pitch again during 2024 season due to shoulder soreness
The Los Angeles Dodgers could remove another name from their list of potential playoff rotation members. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Wednesday that right-hander Gavin Stone continues to have shoulder soreness issues and as a result has a “very low likelihood” of returning this season. The Dodgers released a similar update about Tyler Glasnow over the weekend, potentially leaving them without two of their best players.
The 25-year-old Stone hasn’t appeared in a game since Aug. 31. In the 25 starts before he was deactivated, he posted a 3.53 ERA (111 ERA+) and a 3.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The projected value of his contributions is 1.8 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations.
At the time of Stone’s initial injury, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman expressed uncertainty over whether Stone would be able to return this season.
“I’m not sure,” Friedman told MLB.com. “I expect him to do everything possible. There’s so much unknown around it that we’re going to do everything we can to dominate every day, and hopefully when he starts throwing, he can move forward from there. It’s hard to predict that right now.”
Stone and Glasnow are just two of the Dodgers’ starting pitchers. The list of injured players includes Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, River Ryan and Emmett Sheehan. In turn, the Dodgers are currently nursing players like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty, Walker Buehler and Landon Knack.
The Dodgers also announced Wednesday that they had optioned right-hander Bobby Miller to Triple-A. The move comes less than a day after his latest poor performance, when he allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings against the Miami Marlins.
The Dodgers enter Wednesday with an 89-62 record, giving them a 3 1/2 game lead in the National League West. The Dodgers are two games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL’s second seed, also two games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the No. 1 seed.
