Dodgers: In-house options to replace injured Tom Koehler
By Jason Reed
The Dodgers pitching staff has taken a blow before the season even began. New signee Tom Koehler will miss time with a bicep injury in his throwing arm.
Well, that didn’t take long. The Los Angeles Dodgers brought in former starter Tom Koehler to add depth to a bullpen that was losing Brandon Morrow and Tony Watson.
Although Koehler was a failed starter at the big league level, he checked all the boxes as a familiar reclamation project for LA. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt has done a great job at turning these failed starters into great bullpen additions. He did so with Joe Blanton in 2016, last year it was Brandon Morrow.
However, Koehler will have to wait to add his name to the surprise breakout list in the bullpen. Per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Koehler suffered a mild anterior capsule strain in Friday’s contest against the Chicago White Sox. Koehler will not have surgery on the shoulder, however, his timetable of return ranges from a few weeks to a few months.
It will become clearer as time goes on when Tom Koehler will be able to return. The best-case scenario has Koehler available for the Opening Day roster. However, the Dodgers should not plan for that speedy recovery. Instead, Dave Roberts and company must start searching for an early season replacement.
This search seemingly gets harder with Andrew Friedman stating that the Dodgers are no more likely to trade for a pitcher now than they were before the injury (h/t DodgerBlue).
Luckily for Roberts, that job will be easy with the great pitching depth in the organization. With that being said, here are the most likely options to be an in-house replacement for Tom Koehler.