Los Angeles Dodgers: A six-man rotation solves all problems

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a deep and talented pitching staff that all still have their own hang-ups despite being so talented.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have won six consecutive National League West titles not because of a consistent offense but instead because the pitching staff has been so great in the six-year run.

Yes, there have been some great offensive showings in the last six years and the Dodgers have benefitted from some of the best bats in baseball. However, even a great offense can be beaten if the pitching staff is poor. The Dodgers pitching staff has not been poor.

Just like years prior, the Dodgers enter the 2019 season with a deep and talented pitching staff, headlined by ace Clayton Kershaw and young, soon-to-be ace, Walker Buehler. It is easy to get excited about the quality of play that we will see on the rubber in 2019.

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However, each of the Dodgers’ starting pitchers all has their own hang-ups, all of which stemming from the potential workload.

That is why the Dodgers should be running a six-man starting rotation in 2019. The team is undoubtedly talented enough to do so and it would benefit all parties involved.

A six-man rotation not only gives the pitchers an extra day of rest but amounts to five fewer starts per year. On average, a five-man rotation that is never altered will lead to 32 starts per pitcher. This six-man rotation leads to 27 starts per pitcher.

Starting from the top, this benefits Kershaw and Buehler as it keeps their workloads down and lets them remain fresh for the postseason. Kershaw has had his injury problems the last few years and Buehler is a young arm that the Dodgers want to avoid overworking.

The new two in the rotation, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill, would also benefit from this. Both pitchers have been injury-prone in the past, Ryu with a myriad of injuries and Hill with blisters, and this extra rest would help them stay in the groove of things and not miss significant time.

The fifth and sixth spot has three different routes. The team can essentially pick two of Kenta Maeda, Ross Stripling and Julio Urias to fill out the last two spots.

Maeda and Stripling can both also throw in the bullpen as well and are both great at it, so using one of them in the pen instead of Urias is probably the smarter move.

Give one spot to either Maeda or Stripling. Both guys truly have elite stuff but both have burnt out at the end of the year because of the workload. Stripling was an all-star last season and was not even on the postseason roster because of the burnout.

Finally, Urias is another upcoming arm that the Dodgers have an innings cap on because of his shoulder surgery. Urias has ace potential and has the potential to be better than Buehler. He is still only 22 (two years younger than Buehler) and the Dodgers should be in no rush with him.

However, the Dodgers should also avoid using up all of his innings on his innings cap before September and then not using him in the postseason.

All six guys would benefit from the extra rest and it would even allow them to go deeper in games. Even one inning deeper has a huge impact and will also keep the bullpen more rested as well.

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This is a much better alternative than sending one of the guys down to the minor leagues or simply using one in a long relief role out of the bullpen. The Los Angeles Dodgers should run a six-man rotation, there is no doubt about it.

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