Los Angeles Dodgers rotation faces even more questions in 2016

After an injury to Brett Anderson, the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation enters the 2016 season with even more uncertainty.

It’s hard to believe any pitching staff which includes Clayton Kershaw could have problems, but the Los Angeles Dodgers might find themselves in such a situation. They did a season ago, and that was with the luxury of having a second ace in Zack Greinke.

While Kershaw and Greinke were putting up Cy Young numbers, the rest of the rotation failed to truly impress. And in the postseason, it can be difficult to lean on just one or two starters no matter how dominant they are, which the Dodgers learned in their NLDS defeat to the New York Mets.

After Greinke jumped ship in favor of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers were hard-pressed to fill his spot. Let’s face it, very few pitchers can replace a 19-3 record and 1.66 ERA. Greinke himself probably won’t be able to match that performance in 2016.

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Forgoing some of the bigger names on the free agent market like David Price and Johnny Cueto, Los Angeles instead brought in Scott Kazmir as its headline signing, along with Japanese star Kenta Maeda. They reportedly struck a deal with Hisashi Iwakuma as well but backed away due to medical concerns.

The question marks riddling the Dodgers rotation were only exacerbated by yesterday’s news that Brett Anderson would require back surgery, putting him out of commission for three to five months.

The left-hander was the club’s consensus third starter last year, the only hurler besides Kershaw and Greinke to make at least 30 starts. He provided the team with a solid 180.1 innings, winning ten games to the tune of a 3.69 ERA.

Although the Dodgers probably weren’t expecting huge things from Anderson in 2016, he likely would have entered the season as the number-two starter. Losing him for a big chunk of the year puts much more pressure on L.A.’s offseason signings as well as a cadre of pitchers working their way back from various injuries.

Kazmir is coming off a strong season in which he posted a 3.10 ERA, but he was noticeably less effective after a midseason trade to the Houston Astros (4.17 ERA in 13 starts), and considering his erratic history it’s hard to say exactly what kind of year he will have. In any case, a move to a National League pitcher’s park could be good for him at age 32.

Maeda put together an impressive career in Japan, but he is largely an unknown quantity at this point. The Dodgers will need to hope he catches on quickly.

L.A. will depend on the likes of Alex Wood (4.35 ERA in 70.1 IP after trade from Braves) and Mike Bolsinger (3.62 ERA in 109.1 IP) to fill out the back-end of the rotation, at least initially. Both showed flashes of their capabilities last year and at ages 25 and 28, respectively, they could still be trending upward. Improvements from the pair of them would be a significant boost to the staff as a whole.

Hyun-jin Ryu could be back from shoulder surgery sometime in May. Can he pick up where he left off (3.17 ERA in 56 career starts) after a year on the sidelines? Brandon McCarthy will hope to return to the mound as well before the All-Star break after undergoing Tommy John surgery. L.A. handed him a four-year contract last winter after his surprising run with the Yankees (2.89 ERA in 90.1 IP).

The Dodgers also took another flyer on Brandon Beachy, although he might be the biggest long shot of the bunch after two Tommy John procedures. With all these variables in play, he’s still worth keeping in mind.

The franchise does have the benefit of one of the game’s top pitching prospects in Julio Urias. Although a 2016 major league debut shouldn’t be ruled out, the Dodgers likely won’t want to rush him at the tender age of 19, despite their rotation issues. He probably won’t be promoted unless he is absolutely tearing it up at Triple-A.

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Fans in L.A. will probably keep lamenting the departure of Zack Greinke, and it’s hard to blame them in light of the ambiguity now surrounding the rotation. If there is anything the Dodgers can hang their hats on, it’s that they have a plethora of “wild card” options in the starting pitching department. While none of them on their own is especially compelling, there is a chance one or two might stick.