Dodgers Team News

The Gavin Stone Call Up May Be Geared Toward Padres Series for Dodgers

The Dodgers are set to call up top pitching prospect Gavin Stone to start on Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. He’ll be making his MLB debut against the Phillies. Multiple sources have reportedly confirmed the plan to make the move, but Dave Roberts has denied it to the media for the last two days.

Still, the plan will be for Gavin Stone to pitch on Wednesday in LA. So…



Why are the Dodgers Calling Up Gavin Stone? Why Now?

Roberts talked around that on Sunday. He said that if the club would be making the move, it would be to give a few pitchers “a blow” following a long first month of the season. And, the Dodgers are ending a stretch of 19 games in 20 days.

But really, it feels like a move with a focus on the next series for the Dodgers. The team wraps up its homestand on Wednesday and has a day off before heading down south to face the San Diego Padres for the first time this season. Starting Stone on Wednesday helps Dave Roberts line up his rotation nicely against the NL West rival.

A well rested Dustin May would be starting the first game of the series on Friday. He’s coming off an outing where he threw a career-high 104 pitches in a win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

That sets the stage for Clayton Kershaw on Saturday who has owned the Padres in his career (45 starts, 23-9 record, 2.03 ERA with 310 strikeouts over 292 innings lifetime).

Then, the Dodgers will have a little bit of an option to either stick with the rotation and send Noah Syndergaard to the mound… on the road… for a Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN… Or they could pivot to Tony Gonsolin on one day of extra rest.

Career numbers vs Padres:

  • Syndergaard: 1-3, 4.65 ERA in 5 games and 31 IP
  • Gonsolin: 4-0, 1.45 ERA in 6 games and 31 IP

As Dave Roberts says it, the Dodgers have a little optionality for the Sunday game and that would be, in part, because of Gavin Stone making his big league debut on Wednesday.

I know what I’d do if I were Dave.

UPDATE

Dave Roberts still wouldn’t confirm Wednesday afternoon’s starter but he did say that he would be rearranging the rotation so that Clayton Kershaw would pitch game one of the series in San Diego.

That could mean Dustin May on Saturday but more to come.

Dodgers vs Padres: Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN

The Dodgers will play their first game on ESPN this year against the rival Padres and fans are in for a treat. Mookie Betts will be mic’d up during the game broadcast and usually offers up some fun nuggets during these instances.

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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!

One Comment

  1. Gonsolin should start instead of Syndergaard against the Padres. Games against the Padres may be more important for the standings than games against the rest of the league (and interleague). Give Syndergaard the next game. Will Stone replace Syndergaard in the 2d half? Too early to tell. Will Buehler be able to pitch in relief in October? The Dodgers are scoring based upon home runs. They are 4th in MLB in runs scored. That is OK given their talent level. They are 15th in MLB in runs allowed. They will need to improve on that. How can Tampa Bay be #1 in runs scored and #1 in runs allowed? The Dodgers look like they can make the playoffs and then anything can happen. They look like they will win in the low 90s. Maybe they are ready to go on a roll.

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