It is a well established fact in major league baseball that a team’s starting rotation on Opening Day rarely resembles the one at season’s end. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to name even one that has. The two biggest reasons, of course, are injuries and poor performance.

During the 2015 season, the Dodgers used a total of 16 different starting pitchers, of which 10 made five or fewer starts and five of those only one. The primary reason were the season-ending injuries to left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu (shoulder) and Brandon McCarthy (elbow). And although the Dodgers starting rotation for 2016 appears to now be set, the chances of the starting rotation on April 4 resembling the one on October 2 are extremely remote.

Fortunately, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi were able to acquire considerable pitching depth prior to and during the 2015 season via trade or somewhat off-the-wall free agent signing – several of which were guys recovering from significant injuries. And given their respective reputations, the analytics gurus will most likely continue to do so again for 2016; in fact, they already have by bringing back right-hander Brandon Beachy, who they signed prior to spring training 2015 and who was among those 16 starters last season.

After an extremely lengthy recover from his second Tommy John surgery, Beachy was finally deemed ready to go in July and made two starts for the Dodgers. By design and in an abundance of caution, the 29-year-old Kokomo, Indiana native pitched only four innings in each of those two starts posting a 0-1 record and 7.88 ERA while allowing one home run. And while it appeared that Beachy was close to being ready to return, it seemed that perhaps he still needed a bit more time to fully recover from his second TJ surgery and he was sent back down to the minors for the remainder of the season. But rather than accepting a full-time role in the minors, Beachy opted for free agency at the conclusion of the 2015 season hoping to be picked up by a major league team for 2016.

…and he was; by the Dodgers, who just signed him to a one-year / non-guaranteed contract for a base salary of $1.5 million with incentives that could be worth up to an additional $3.5 million if he makes the Opening Day roster and based on appearances. The interesting and obvious thing about Beachy’s contract is that it is structured so that he can be used as either a starter or as a reliever – presumably in long-relief situations.

After making two starts with the Dodgers in 2015, it appeared that right-hander Brandon Beachy may have come back a bit too soon from his second Tommy John surgery and was sent back down to the minor leagues. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

But perhaps the biggest news about the Dodgers 2016 starting rotation came on Sunday afternoon when it was reported by Korean reporter Joseph Kim (via Twitter) that Ryu plans to be in the Dodgers starting rotation on Opening Day through the entire season.

One has to believe that the Dodgers will be extremely cautious with Ryu regardless of what his personal goals are. But that being said and if the soon-to-be 29-year-old Incheon, South Korea native is indeed ready to go on Opening Day, one has to also believe that he would, in fact, be in the Dodgers starting rotation over the likes of say… left-hander Alex Wood or right-hander Brandon Beachy.

Dodgers left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu insists that he will be ready on Opening Day 2016.
(Photo courtesy of @blackwings2011)

If it does indeed play out this way, the Dodgers would have a starting rotation consisting of four left-handers (Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, Ryu and Brett Anderson) and only one right-hander (Kenta Maeda). Ironically, Maeda himself is a bit of a question mark, having announced at his introductory press conference this past Thursday that he has “irregularities” in his right elbow.

In other words, the Dodgers may once again be accruing frequent-flyer miles between Oklahoma City and Los Angeles again this season.

Stay tuned…