Dodgers’ NLDS Starting Rotation Revealed Ahead of 2024 MLB Playoffs Bracket

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IISeptember 27, 2024

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed to reporters that his four starting pitchers for the National League Division Series will be Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and Landon Knack.

Roberts, who made the remarks before his team’s road game against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, did not specify the rotation order during those remarks.

L.A., which clinched the National League West and an NLDS berth, is now fighting for the No. 1 seed in the National League playoffs. Only the Philadelphia Phillies, who entered Friday a game behind the Dodgers in the standings, can overtake L.A.

Seventeen pitchers have started games for the Dodgers in a year that has seen the rotation get hit hard with injuries. Of note, Gavin Stone is on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, and Roberts said he is “very unlikely” to return this year. Tyler Glasnow is out for the year with an elbow sprain.

Clayton Kershaw is out with a bone spur in his left big toe, and Roberts said that the left-hander is in a “holding pattern.” Tony Gonsolin is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery, and Roberts said that he won’t be available for the NLDS.

Two of the Dodgers’ NLDS starters have dealt with long-term injuries. Buehler returned from Tommy John surgery this year and also landed on the injured list with a right hip injury. Yamamoto sat nearly three months with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

Despite the ailments, the Dodgers enter their final regular-season series with the league’s best record, thanks much to the exploits of assured NL MVP Shohei Ohtani and the offense. The bats can certainly be enough to overcome the pitching depth concerns, although the NLDS starters have showed good form.

Flaherty is 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA and 61 strikeouts over 55.2 innings. Yamamoto has a 2.96 ERA over 17 starts. Buehler has struggled for much of the year but has done a bit better of late, allowing just one earned run in two of his last three starts. And Knack, a rookie called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City, has impressed (3.74 ERA, 65 K in 65 IP).

It’s unclear who the Dodgers will face just yet in the NLDS, but we do know that Game 1 will be in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 5.