Breaking News: Dodgers Place Another Starting Pitcher on Injured List With Shoulder Inflammation

The Dodgers placed right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone on the injured list on Friday, leaving the team without the only starting pitcher who has been in the rotation all season without missing a start due to injury.

Stone, 25, has an 11-5 record with a 3.53 ERA this season and could start early in the playoffs.

The right-handed pitcher was placed on the 15-day injured list following a series of roster moves prior to the Dodgers’ season opener against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night.

The Dodgers also sent right-handed reliever Michael Peterson to Triple-A Oklahoma City and activated right-hander Landon Knack and left-hander Justin Wrobleski. Knack starts Friday. Wrobleski could theoretically take Stone’s spot in the Dodgers’ rotation.

It’s the latest in a series of setbacks the Dodgers’ rotation has suffered this season.

Opening Day starter Tyler Glasnow has been on the injured list twice this year with back and elbow issues. The Dodgers hope to have him back in October, but time is running out.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed the largest contract ever for a pitcher last December – $325 million for 12 years – but has now been sidelined for three months with a rotator cuff injury.

Clayton Kershaw began the year on the injured list, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He returned in July and showed some promise, but was forced to forfeit his final start with a bone spur in his left big toe. Kershaw is currently working on a running boot.

Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller are both healthy now, but have spent time on the injured list with hip and shoulder injuries, respectively. Neither has returned to the top form the Dodgers had hoped for.

Rookies River Ryan and Kyle Hurt were not expected to be in the rotation this season. But both likely would have been due to injuries to their more experienced teammates — had Tommy John surgery not derailed their seasons.

Meanwhile, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin and Emmet Sheehan are also recovering from the ligament replacement procedure named after the former Dodgers pitcher. None are expected to pitch this year.

Against that backdrop, Stone’s injury — with less than four weeks left in the regular season — couldn’t have come at a worse time. Knack (2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 starts) will likely have a long run to show he belongs in the big leagues — at least in the regular season, if not the postseason.

Stone, the Dodgers’ fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft, has never been on the injured list in his career.

Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

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