Dodgers Team News

Should the Dodgers Take a Flier on RHP Zach Plesac?

Over the weekend, the Cleveland Guardians designated starting pitcher Zach Plesac for assignment in a move that shocked the industry. The club will have seven days to waive or trade the right-hander before attempting to outright him to Triple-A. The question for the Dodgers is should the front office take a flier on the one time quality big league arm?

First, let’s look at the numbers. Plesac pitched well over his first 29 big league appearances, posting a 3.32 ERA over 171 innings in 2019 and 2020. Things soured a bit in 2021 and 2022 as his ERA ballooned to 4.49 over 50 games and 274.1 innings. And this season has been a disaster as 18 runs have scored over 21.1 innings of work (7.59 ERA).

Why Would the Dodgers Want Zach Plesac?

As it stands for the Dodgers, it’s painfully apparent that the Noah Syndergaard experiment has not worked out. The Mark Prior magic didn’t translate to an Asgardian like Thor. If LA decides to pull the plug on Syndergaard in the rotation, there’s still a need to fill some innings while guys like Dustin May and Ryan Pepiot remain sidelined. And, as it stands, the club is one injury away from having to dive deeper into the minor league depth for starting pitching.

Notably, Julio Urias is expected back this weekend in Philly.

With Plesac, it’s a low risk, high reward situation, if Prior and the pitching lab can get the pitcher back on track. He’s still under team control through the 2025 season and is earning $2.95 million this season. In a trade, the Dodgers would need to take on that contract.

We wouldn’t be looking at the 28-year-old as a front end of the rotation piece, just a potential innings eater for the backend that can be an improvement over someone like Syndergaard or Michael Grove, who showed signs of growth in his start on Saturday.

Should the Dodgers Trade for Zach Plesac?

The Dodgers have potentially better options in those lower levels of the minor leagues, like really anyone from the Double-A starting rotation, but this team loves a good reclamation project. It’s important to note that Plesac’s percentile rankings on Baseball Savant paint the picture of a lost cause.

Zach Plesac’s Baseball Savant Page.

The short answer to the question in the header is no… with an asterisk. The asterisk being that if you can get him for next to nothing, then it’s worth seeing if he can be an improvement over Syndergaard. The Dodgers should be more interested in seeing what anyone out of the AA Tulsa rotation can do at the big league level.

Landon Knack in particular is an intriguing option.

He’s a former well-regarded pitching prospect that dropped off the radar after a rough, injury plagued 2022 season. He’s already 25 and is due for at least a promotion to Triple-A any week now.

The Dodgers seem more set to stick with internal options this season anyway.

Clint Pasillas

Clint Pasillas has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008. Under Clint's leadership as the Lead Editor, Dodgers Nation has grown into one of the most read baseball sites in the world with millions of unique visitors per month. Find him online on Twitter/X or his YouTube channel!

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