The Los Angeles Dodgers are again testing the limits of how far elite talent and depth can carry a rotation—and at what cost.
As the injury list piles up, questions have intensified around the club’s approach to pitching acquisitions and development. According to The Athletic’s Dodgers reporter Fabian Ardaya, the Dodgers’ current situation isn’t entirely by accident.
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“They have absolutely gone out and targeted talented arms with checkered injury histories,” Ardaya said. “Part of how they rationalized acquiring Glasnow was the ability to lock down a premium-level talent at a less-than-premium cost.”
It’s a strategy that leans into risk, banking on upside and internal depth rather than traditional durability. And while the Dodgers have lost over a dozen arms to injury this season, their infrastructure has given them confidence that they can absorb the impact.
“They’re very good at developing intriguing arms that either can capably handle a few big-league innings or be interesting enough to other teams to flip in trades for more pitching,” Ardaya noted, pointing to Ben Casparius, a 26-year-old with a 3.02 ERA in 23 appearances this season, as a recent example.
This is all part of a broader organizational philosophy that prioritizes velocity and spin—metrics often associated with higher injury risk. Ardaya explained that this aggressive approach extends deep into the minor leagues.
“They aren’t the only team prioritizing velo and spin, but they seemingly go closest to the red line,” he said. “They had the hardest-throwing rotation in the sport at Double-A Tulsa in 2023. All of those guys have since either gotten hurt or hit a bump in the road.”
The irony is clear: the same traits that make these pitchers dominant are also the ones that wear them down. It’s a microcosm of modern pitching—a high-wire act with enormous upside, and equally steep consequences.
For the Dodgers, the hope is that enough of these arms return in time to make October worth it. But whether this high-risk model is sustainable long-term remains to be seen.