The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pursuit of World Series championship No. 8 begins on Wednesday, as the super team collides with the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea. Expectations and excitement for the club are sky-high, which figures to be the new standard in the Shotime Era.
There are other players beyond Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Yoshinobu Yamamoto who are intriguing fans, however. Manager Dave Roberts just gave one of them a big promotion.
Gavin Stone will be the fifth starter in the Dodgers’ pitching rotation, per MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. The young right-hander earned this slot with a stellar spring that saw him tally a 3-0 record and 0.93 ERA with nine strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings of work.
The ongoing injury status of Walker Buehler opened a door for Stone, and he ran right through it. The 2020 fifth-round draft pick struggled in a small sample size with LA in 2023 (9.00 ERA in eight outings), but he could be ready to make a sizable leap this season.
Because there is no blow-by velocity in his arsenal, it is important that Stone keeps hitters out of sorts by expertly using the entire home plate. He has displayed pinpoint control with his pitches during spring training, thereby earning Roberts’ trust going into the 2024 campaign.
While Gavin Stone is set to take the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of the month, LA is dialed in for Tyler Glasnow’s Opening Day start versus the Padres. It is only one game of course, but beating their rival in front of a frenzied crowd at the Gocheok Sky Dome is a perfect way for LA to begin what should be a crucial period in the franchise’s history.
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