Los Angeles Dodgers: Why the starting rotation will be just fine
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Dodgers did not bring in the big-name pitcher that the fans hoped for and now, without Hyun-Jin Ryu, some are worried.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have had one constant in the seven consecutive years that the team has won the National League West — the team has always had great starting pitching. Clayton Kershaw has been the anchor of the team and various great pitchers have been in and out of the system, as well as there being some great surprise seasons as well.
Yet, for some reason, there seems to be this concern about the starting rotation that the Dodgers are fielding in 2019. The concerns sparked after the Dodgers missed out on Hyun-Jin Ryu, who signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ryu was the best pitcher for the Dodgers last season and was arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball, although Jacob deGrom took home National League Cy Young honors.
This was after the team was outbid for Gerrit Cole, could not persuade Madison Bumgarner to come to Los Angeles and were not really even in the running for Stephen Strasburg.
With Kershaw aging and not throwing the ball as well as he used to, or so we think, some are expecting a big step back for the Dodgers pitching staff in 2019.
However, that is not the case at all. The Dodgers’ starting rotation is being extremely undervalued and it will once again be one of the best in the league. Here is why.