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The Dodgers still don’t have a clear answer at the No. 2 spot in their rotation, per Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register. Despite a roster loaded with pitching talent on paper, the club has cycled through options behind their ace without finding a consistent second starter — and we’re approaching the midpoint of the season with no obvious resolution in sight.

This has been an ongoing storyline for months now. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was supposed to be a foundational piece of this rotation after signing his massive 12-year, $325 million deal before the 2024 season. Yamamoto showed flashes of dominance in his debut campaign but dealt with injuries, and the question of who slots in reliably behind the top of the rotation has lingered. His talent is undeniable — he was the best pitcher in Japan before coming stateside — but the Dodgers have needed more stability around him and whoever occupies the No. 1 role.

Rokisuke Sasaki arrived with enormous expectations after his own high-profile posting from Japan, but as we saw in his most recent outing against the Padres, command issues have plagued him. He gave up seven runs in that loss, and starts like that are exactly why the front office can’t simply pencil him in as the answer. Sasaki has electric stuff — the fastball sits in the upper 90s and his splitter is devastating when located — but consistency remains elusive. He’s still only 24, so patience is warranted, but the Dodgers need production now.

Emmet Sheehan has also been in the mix, though as we reported earlier, Dave Roberts hinted that Sheehan’s rotation spot could be on the line heading into the Padres series. Sheehan has the raw arm talent — he came up in 2023 and showed a power fastball-slider combination that looked like it could anchor a rotation long-term — but the results haven’t been there consistently enough this year. When a manager publicly floats the idea that your job is in jeopardy, that tells you plenty about where things stand.

Blake Snell is working his way back from injury, which could eventually factor into this equation. Snell won the Cy Young in 2023 with San Diego before signing with San Francisco, and then came to the Dodgers. When healthy, he’s a legitimate front-of-the-rotation arm with a wipeout slider and the ability to dominate any lineup. But “when healthy” has been the operative phrase for a while now, and the Dodgers can’t build their rotation plans around a pitcher who isn’t on the mound.

This is the kind of problem that separates good teams from championship teams. We have an embarrassment of riches in the lineup — Andy Pages and Max Muncy are All-Star voting finalists, Kyle Tucker is working to find his swing, and the offense just hung 15 runs on the Padres. But pitching wins in October, and right now our rotation depth chart has a glaring question mark at the second slot. The trade deadline is a month away, and I’d expect Andrew Friedman to be aggressive in pursuing pitching. The pieces are there for a championship run, but only if the rotation gets sorted out. This is the biggest issue facing the club right now, and it’s not particularly close.

Source(s): Bill Plunkett (Orange County Register) | First reported: June 28, 2026 1:38 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers