The Dodgers will be in every game they play in October, and that alone means they will enter the playoffs as the favorites to win the World Series.<\/p>\n
Not because of Shohei Ohtani. Not because of Freddie Freeman<\/a>. And certainly not because of their bullpen<\/a>.<\/p>\n There were a number of alarming developments in the last week or so, but if any team is designed to survive them, it\u2019s the Dodgers.<\/p>\n Whatever their problems, they still have the best rotation in baseball<\/a>.<\/p>\n No player influences the outcome of a game as much as a starting pitcher, and the Dodgers are the only team that will be able to roll out one Cy Young Award-caliber arm after another after another.<\/p>\n The Dodgers were negligent with Ohtani<\/a>, and the verdict on their management of Freeman is pending, but they at least set up their pitchers the right way.<\/p>\n The rotation is more than a collection of big names. In Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell, the Dodgers have three starters who are peaking in time to deliver the kinds of performances that will be required for them to win their third consecutive World Series.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDylan Hernandez<\/p>\n Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Getty Images<\/p>\n Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven shutout innings<\/a> on Tuesday in a 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, marking his third consecutive seven-inning start.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel really good and I don\u2019t have any physical problems,\u201d Yamamoto told reporters in Japanese. \u201cI want to treat practice each and every day with importance and go into October in the best condition.\u201d<\/p>\n Yamamoto isn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n The day before Yamamoto\u2019s start, Tarik Skubal pitched seven scoreless innings of his own<\/a> in a 4-1 victory over the Reds. In his previous start, which was also against the Reds but at Dodger Stadium, Skubal pitched 7 \u2153 innings.<\/p>\n \u201cJust getting in a rhythm,\u201d Skubal said.<\/p>\n Blake Snell, who is scheduled to take his turn in the rotation on Wednesday, was 4-0 with a 1.04 earned-run average in the six games he started since returning from an elbow cleanup that cost him three months.<\/p>\n The one source of concern in the rotation is Tyler Glasnow<\/a>, who, like Snell, was slow-played in his return from an injury. Sidelined for 3 \u00bd months because of back problems, Glasnow showed promise in his first couple of starts after he came back. But in his last two starts, he gave up a combined eight runs, 11 hits and seven walks in 10 innings. But as the team\u2019s No. 4 starter, he is unlikely to start more than one game in any postseason series.\u00a0<\/p>\n Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell throws against the Washington Nationals in the first inning of a baseball game on Friday, September 4, 2026, in Los Angeles. Wally Skalij for CA Post<\/p>\n Even before Ohtani was placed on the injured list because of right arm and left knee injuries, the starting pitching was likely going to have to carry the Dodgers \u2013 much as it did last year.<\/p>\n Recent developments have shifted even more of the burden to the starting pitchers.<\/p>\n Edwin Diaz, their $69-million closer, was blow-torched for five runs in \u2154 of an inning in the most recent game of his minor-league rehabilitation assignment. At this point, he\u2019s a longshot to make the postseason roster.<\/p>\n Diaz\u2019s failure to rediscover his All-Star form will have major ramifications on the bullpen, which lost ninth-inning candidate Edgardo Henriquez to a lower-back problem for the remainder of the regular season. Henriquez\u2019s status for the playoffs remains a mystery.<\/p>\n Manager Dave Roberts\u2019 current ninth-inning choice, Tanner Scott, is in a minor slump, as he has given up runs in five of his last 12 apperances.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the Dodgers will have to find a closer \u2013 Roki Sasaki?<\/a> \u2013 their ability to create favorable matchups in the innings before the ninth is also under question. The simplest way to address those uncertainties will be for the starters to pitch deeper into games. Last year, Yamamoto pitched a complete game in the National League Championship Series and another in his next start in the World Series. Snell had an eight-inning start in the NLCS.<\/p>\n Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal throws a pitch in the second inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n The greater problem could be the already-inconsistent offense, which could go into the playoffs with physically-compromised versions of Ohtani and Freeman.<\/p>\n Freeman missed three of five games before starting at first base on Tuesday<\/a>. Freeman collected three hits in the game, but he\u2019s 37 years old and the Dodgers can\u2019t be certain how his right knee will hold up.<\/p>\n