The Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting rotation is packed, and after the team’s wild pitching situation in the 2024 postseason, that’s definitely a good thing.
LA managed to pull off a (commanding) World Series win with three healthy starters and bullpen games to fill in the gaps. This year, the Dodgers hope to avoid the same issues after the additions of Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, along with the impending returns of Shohei Ohtani, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and, more likely than not, Clayton Kershaw.
A recent update suggests the Dodgers may not even be done shopping for arms. Pat Ragazzo, Yankees and Mets insider for OnSI, reported that Max Scherzer threw an exhibition for interested clubs earlier in the week of Jan. 19, and LA was one of the teams present.
Dodgers fans have not taken the news of a potential reunion with the veteran well. The Nationals traded Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles ahead of the 2021 trade deadline, and his short stint in Dodger Blue went well — at least, during the regular season.
Dodgers fans remember Max Scherzer’s last stint with the team as LA shows interest in a reunion
Scherzer posted a 1.98 ERA, a 0.820 WHIP, 89 strikeouts and eight walks in 68.1 innings in the second half of the campaign. He pitched a great start to the postseason, allowing just two runs in 12.1 innings over three appearances between the Wild Card round and the NLDS. He allowed two runs in 4.1 innings against the Braves in the NLCS, and later refused to make a second start due to arm soreness and “dead arm.”
Walker Buehler volunteered for Scherzer’s job on short rest, and he gave up a three-run homer to Eddie Rosario that won the Braves the series. In August of the following season, Buehler underwent his second Tommy John surgery, and he’s yet to pitch as well as he did before the procedure. Some fans partially attribute the need for the surgery to his filling in for Scherzer.
The Dodgers’ pitching staff would certainly be okay without adding Scherzer, and it seems like most LA fans know that. If the Dodgers did bring in the future Hall of Famer, though, it would infuriate the rest of MLB fans so much that it might almost be worth it.
