People are already claiming the Dodgers have the best rotation in MLB history after signing Roki Sasaki. It may feel that way, but it isn’t necessarily true.

A pitch has not even been thrown in 2025, and yet, people are already proclaiming the Los Angeles Dodgers as World Series champions.

Admittedly, on paper, the Dodgers’ starting rotation looks outstanding, as they’ve added Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to a loaded cast of arms. In case fate isn’t cruel enough, they might not even be done adding to their rotation.

However, pitching is a fragile thing. There are so many factors at play that say what the Dodgers have built will not be as successful as people are predicting.

The Dodgers have an injury history problem

The Dodgers struggled to keep pitchers healthy last season, as 12 different hurlers were put on the injured list. The team could be planning to use a six-man rotation next season to help prevent injuries, but all six projected starting pitchers have had injuries in the past that have kept them out of the majority of a season.

Snell and Sasaki are the newest additions to the Dodgers, but both have had their fair share of injuries. Here is a list of injuries that have forced Snell to go on the injured list:

• 2018 – left-shoulder fatigue
• 2019 – surgery to remove loose bodies from left elbow
• 2021 – gastroenteritis (July) and adductor strain (September)
• 2022 – adductor strain
• 2024 – adductor strain (April) and groin injury (June)

It has been challenging for Snell to stay healthy throughout his career. Still, if he can stay on the mound, the Dodgers are hoping they get the pitcher who had a 1.45 ERA over 68.1 innings in the second half of the 2024 season versus a 6.31 ERA over 35.2 innings in the first half for the San Francisco Giants.

Sasaki suffered oblique issues in 2023 and a right-arm injury in 2024, which have kept him off the mound in his young career. Out of the Dodgers returning pitchers, Yoshinobu Yamamoto missed time due to triceps tightness in 2023 and 2024; Shohei Ohtani had Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2023 season and only served as a designated hitter in 2024; and Tyler Glasnow has dealt with injuries seemingly every season of his career.

Glasnow came to the Dodgers in the 2023 offseason via a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, but he has had his fair share of time spent on the injury list:

• 2019 – mild forearm strain
• 2021 – Tommy John surgery (missed the rest of the season and most of 2022)
• 2023 – left oblique strain
• 2024 – lower back tightness (July) and right-elbow tendinitis (August)

Dustin May, too, has had an injury-plagued career. The Dodgers drafted him in the third round of the 2016 draft, but due to injuries, he has pitched less than 50 innings in the last three seasons combined. His injuries have included:

• 2021 – Tommy John surgery (missed the rest of the season and most of 2022)
• 2023 – torn flexor tendon in the right arm
• 2024- esophageal tear

There’s upwards of nine starting-caliber arms on this roster if Clayton Kershaw returns, which should insulate the team from season-ending injury issues. But with nearly every pitcher on the roster sporting a laundry list of concerns, the best ability in the team’s rotation next year could be availability.

Is relying on young Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers a wise decision?

The NPB has produced many quality Japanese pitchers over the years. There have been 60 Japanese-born pitchers who have played in the MLB, but only 11 had a career ERA under 3.25. Shohei Ohtani (two-time AL MVP in 2021 and 2023), Hideo Nomo (NL Rookie of the Year in 1995), and Koji Uehara (ALCS MVP in 2013) are a few names that have succeeded in coming over from Japan.

Still, many pitchers have struggled to adapt to the MLB.

Michael Nakamura had a 2.43 ERA over eight seasons in the NPB before joining the Minnesota Twins in 2003 and Toronto Blue Jays the following season.

In 2003, at the age of 26, Nakamura posted a 7.82 ERA for the Twins and followed that up the next season with a 7.36 ERA for the Blue Jays.

Kohei Arihara also spent eight seasons in the NPB, with a 3.55 ERA, before joining the Texas Rangers at the age of 28. He had a 7.57 ERA over two seasons in the MLB.

Sasaki is as talented as anyone who has made the transition from Japan to the United States, but at just 23 years of age, he isn’t infallible.

The Dodgers have had huge amounts of success with NPB pitchers — Yamamoto pitched to a 3.00 ERA in 90.0 innings last season — but asking Sasaki to be one of the figureheads of an injury-plagued staff in his rookie season could prove too arduous for the young star.

Should the new Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation be considered the best of all time?

There is a long history of “great” rotations not living up the hype.

Back in 2011, the Phillies deployed their vaunted “doomsday rotation,” featuring Hall of Famer Roy Halladay, Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, stalwart ace Cole Hamels, and three-time All-Star Roy Oswalt

“The Four Aces,” as they liked to be called, didn’t quite make the splash they hoped to, losing to the Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLDS in 2011, despite the former three all finishing top-five in Cy Young voting that season.

In 2018, the Chicago Cubs acquired Hamels at the trade deadline, adding him to a rotation that already featured Jon Lester, Yu Darvish, Jose Quintana, and Kyle Hendricks. The team lost to the Colorado Rockies in the single-elimination Wild Card Game.

Even just last season, the Seattle Mariners deployed a rotation of Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Goerge Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Bryan Woo. Every single one of them pitched to a sub-4.00 ERA and earned at least 2.3 fWAR. The team didn’t even reach the playoffs, falling short of the last wild card spot by one game.

Yes, the new Dodgers rotation looks formidable on paper. However, each starter has faced significant injuries over their career that have placed them on the injured list, including three players who had Tommy John surgery within the last four years.

They play the games for a reason, folks. Let’s see how the season plays out before giving the Dodgers the highest praise possible.