Monday, April 27

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Even while missing a certain two-time Cy Young Award winner, the Dodgers' rotation has picked up right where it left off.

Through Sunday's action, L.A.'s rotation led the Majors with a 2.79 ERA and 18 quality starts, also ranking second with 164 2/3 innings and a 1.02 WHIP. One month into the season, the Dodgers' starting pitching that carried them to back-to-back championships has emerged as the team's biggest strength once again -- and they should get even better once Blake Snell returns to the fold.

Snell is on track to return to the Dodgers by the end of May after beginning the year on the injured list with left shoulder fatigue. He has one rehab start under his belt and should have at least three more before he's activated, with the next one scheduled for Tuesday with Single-A Ontario.

Barring any unforeseeable circumstances, Snell's return will bump one of the current members of the rotation. That means that over the next few weeks, Roki Sasaki, Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski are making their case to keep their jobs.

In terms of pure performance, Wrobleski has put himself in the best position of the three. After making his season debut in long relief, Wrobleski shifted to starting and has allowed just two earned runs in 26 innings (0.69 ERA) across his four starts. He may have been the sixth man in the six-man rotation, but he's pitched like someone who should be getting the ball every sixth game without question.

"When you lose a multiple Cy Young winner in Snell, to have a guy like that fill in, and Emmet and Roki kind of cutting his teeth," manager Dave Roberts said, "it really raises the floor for our starting pitching."

That leaves Sasaki and Sheehan as seemingly the most likely candidates to go down when Snell returns. 

Sasaki: 1-2, 6.35 ERA, 1.81 WHIP

Sheehan: 2-0, 4.78 ERA, 1.25 WHIP

Both have made progress over the first month of the season, although Sheehan has certainly seen better results than Sasaki.

Sheehan had velocity issues during Spring Training that lingered into his first couple of regular-season starts. He's been throwing harder of late, more in line with last year, but his velocity has still fluctuated within outings. That was the case in his best start yet, when he struck out a career-high-tying 10 Cubs hitters across 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball on Friday.

Across his last three starts, Sheehan has held opponents to six earned runs in 17 2/3 innings (3.12 ERA). And even while still working to sync up his delivery, he has provided fairly consistent length, pitching at least five innings in four of his five outings.

"We kind of figured out what to work on," Sheehan said of his mechanics, "and I think now it's just continuing to work on that and staying on the gas with that."

Sasaki has been a wild card for the Dodgers. His velocity has ticked up and he's getting more swing-and-miss compared with his eight-start stint in the rotation last year, but he has had issues with being efficient and getting deep into games. He is the only member of the rotation who has yet to record an out beyond the fifth inning.

But there have been some signs of growth. Although Sasaki gave up four runs in five-plus innings on Saturday, he showcased improved command while leaning on a new-look splitter. 

"The first couple games, I couldn't go deeper. It was kind of frustrating," Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. "But right now, I'm just focused on what I can do, and then at the end of the season, I just want to be who I want to be."

When it's time for Snell to return, the Dodgers will look at more than just the box scores when deciding who stays in the rotation. Performance and outcomes matter, but so does development. The team believes that when its pitchers are executing well, then the results will eventually follow.

"I think for me, I am more process," Roberts said, "and I will continue to bet on the results. … Process is strike-throwing, sequencing, the right quality of execution, and then you'll bet on things like that. Not putting guys on with free bases, and all that stuff. That's what I really look at."

We're a month into the season, so I figured it was a good time for a mailbag. Please submit any questions you have about the Dodgers, and I'll get to as many as I can in my next newsletter.

Here are a few notable things to know about the Dodgers’ next opponent, the Marlins (13-15):

• Probable pitching matchups: RHP Chris Paddack vs. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Monday, RHP Janson Junk vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday and RHP Sandy Alcantara vs. RHP Tyler Glasnow on Wednesday
  
  
• Marlins' injuries of note: None that would be relevant to this series.
  
  
• Odds and ends: The Marlins have gone just 3-9 on the road and 6-7 against teams with a .500 record or better this season.

The Dodgers wrap up the homestand with the three-game series against the Marlins. Here's a look at what's going on at the ballpark, and as a reminder, the full-season promotional schedule can be found here.

Monday: Japanese Heritage Night (special event ticket)

Tuesday: Women's Night (special event ticket)

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