MIAMI — Time has pushed Gavin Stone’s spectacular rookie campaign to the brink, and likely to its conclusion. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday that it is “very unlikely” the 25-year-old Stone returns to the mound this season.
Stone has not resumed playing catch since landing on the injured list on Sept. 6 with right shoulder inflammation. While Stone said his shoulder has shown improvement, the right-hander is still feeling discomfort. The hope, he said, is he can still play catch sometime next week. But with just 11 games left in the regular season before Wednesday’s matchup against the Miami Marlins and close to two weeks remaining until the postseason, the timeline effectively rules out Stone as an option for a Dodgers club scrambling to sort out its pitching for October.
“I just don’t see it happening this year,” Roberts said.
Stone went from being an unlikely rotation candidate in spring training to becoming the rock of a Dodgers rotation that has been in flux all season. When he was placed on the injured list, he was the lone Dodgers starter to go without missing a turn in the rotation. He threw a professional career high in innings (140 1/3) with an 11-5 record and 3.53 ERA in 25 starts.
“It sucks,” Stone said.
Roberts’ declaration solidified what was already the most likely outcome when Stone was put on the IL. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman conceded that day that the margin was slim to get Stone back on a big league mound this season. The news that Tyler Glasnow would join him as being out for the year (something completely solidified when Glasnow was transferred to the 60-day injured list on Wednesday) only compounded the Dodgers’ lack of answers for starting pitching.
Bobby Miller won’t be part of the solution. The Dodgers optioned the struggling right-hander on Wednesday after he allowed four runs in two innings Tuesday to raise his ERA to 8.57, the worst in the majors among starters with at least 50 innings pitched.
The rotation could include fellow rookie Landon Knack, who will start Wednesday night against the Marlins and entered with a 3.70 ERA through 12 career big-league outings. He and Walker Buehler are among the pitchers currently in the rotation with a chance to force their way into a postseason start along with Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
A final domino entered the visiting bullpen on Wednesday afternoon. Clayton Kershaw threw off the bullpen mound, rather than the turf one he’s lugged around for the past two weeks, and reported less discomfort in his injured left big toe. The complications around his digit aren’t as simple as just the bone spur he’s dealing with, which made Wednesday a positive step.
Kershaw threw 84 pitches off the mound in his second bullpen session this week, an aggressive amount for a pen, underscoring Kershaw’s desire to keep his arm moving to minimize the impact time off has on his availability in October.
“He was getting after it,” Roberts said.
Roberts wasn’t sure when Kershaw would face hitters in a simulated game, a next step before a potential big league return. He said returning before the end of the regular season would not be a requirement for postseason consideration, but there still remains a chance that Kershaw pitches in a regular season game anyway.
“There’s going to be a point whenever we all come together and decide to fire that bullet and let him pitch for us,” Roberts said. “I’m holding out hope that it happens. I don’t think anyone knows when it’s going to happen. But today was a big step in the right direction.”
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(Photo of Gavin Stone: Joe Camporeale / Imagn Images)
