With the Major League Baseball playoffs on the horizon, several key Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers, including Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow, are focused on improving their performance during their September starts. The team's starting rotation understands the need to be at their best for the postseason, especially given the offense's occasional inconsistency and the absence of Shohei Ohtani due to multiple injuries.
Blake Snell acknowledged his recent six-inning, no-run outing against the Washington Nationals as a "good starting point," but expressed a desire for greater efficiency and depth in his starts. He aims to pitch deeper into games, targeting seven or eight innings, and ultimately nine, as he did in previous playoff appearances. Snell, who is making his fifth start since recovering from an elbow operation, aims to avoid walks and attack hitters more assertively in his remaining regular-season starts.
Tarik Skubal also recently expressed surprise at his stat line from a start against the St. Louis Cardinals, where he allowed two runs over 5 ⅓ innings on 10 singles. While he noted the lack of extra-base hits and felt he executed pitches well, he recognizes the need to continue suppressing contact and generating more misses. Skubal, acquired from the Detroit Tigers, has a 3.03 ERA with the Dodgers, and manager Dave Roberts indicated that the team has not yet seen his full potential.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto showed flashes of brilliance in his start against the Cardinals, carrying a no-hitter through five innings. However, the game unraveled in the sixth and seventh innings, leading to the loss. Yamamoto expressed frustration with his control in the later innings and felt he should have held onto the lead provided by the offense. Despite the outing, Yamamoto's overall numbers this season are an improvement over last year, with a 2.67 ERA through 25 starts. His personal trainer anticipates he will peak in the latter half of September, positioning him for strong playoff performance, similar to his World Series MVP showing last year.
Tyler Glasnow is also preparing for his return to action, with his upcoming start being his third since a 3 ½-month absence due to back spasms. The final three weeks of the regular season serve as a crucial period for these pitchers to fine-tune their mechanics and build stamina as they ramp up for the high-pressure environment of the postseason, where every pitch counts and the margin for error is significantly reduced.