LOS ANGELES — The most stable figure left in the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation is currently off the board, as the Dodgers placed rookie Gavin Stone — their lone starting pitcher not to miss a turn through the rotation this season — on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
Stone, 25, has gone 11-5 with a 3.53 ERA in 25 starts this season, eclipsing a professional career-high of 140 1/3 innings. The organization has been mindful of Stone’s workload, and the right-hander hasn’t thrown more than 90 pitches in a start in over a month.
Yet, he’s the latest in a line of Dodgers starters to go down with injury in an increasingly uncertain picture for their October rotation.
Tyler Glasnow played catch out to 120 feet again on Friday and could start throwing off a mound this weekend as he works his way back from elbow tendonitis. While Glasnow said last week he is “confident” he will be back before the postseason, the calendar puts a squeeze on any injury at this point.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to return from the injured list on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs for his first start since June. But Yamamoto, recovering from a strained rotator cuff, has not thrown more than two innings in any of his rehab outings.
Then there’s Clayton Kershaw, who has an uncertain timetable as he deals with a painful bone spur in his left big toe. Kershaw has continued playing catch.
That, along with season-ending injuries to Emmet Sheehan, River Ryan and Dustin May, has left uncertainty behind a group that on paper is led by deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty. Filling out the rest of their projected postseason rotation has been a challenge.
This story will be updated.
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