Dodgers defense ruins Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s strong comeback in loss to Cubs

The Dodgers have had almost nothing but bad news this year when it comes to injuries to their pitchers.

On Tuesday, however, the storm clouds that had been hanging over the workforce finally began to clear – or at least partially.

It wasn’t just because Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out eight batters in an impressive four-inning, one-run return. Or because Tyler Glasnow took another step in his recovery from elbow tendinitis by working a bullpen session before a simulation game scheduled for later this week.

Rather, for the first time in months, the team might actually be able to do more than just dream about what a possible postseason rotation might look like.

Now they just need to do something about their sloppy defense.

The Dodgers lost 6-3 to the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. Numerous defensive errors (including three errors in the decisive eighth inning, in which five runs were scored) contributed to every single point the Cubs scored in their series-deciding victory.

Coach Dave Roberts had hoped the team would be in “playoff mode” by this point — while it is on the verge of another National League West division title and held a 4 1/2-game lead at the end of Tuesday’s game — but the hair-raising mental lapses on the field have ruined what would otherwise have been an encouraging day for the team’s prospects on the mound.

With Yamamoto finally back, Glasnow’s return in time for the playoffs looking more and more likely, and top newcomer Jack Flaherty continuing to recover in the 2024 season, the Dodgers may end up with three talented starters.

With less than three weeks left before the end of the regular season, the conditions for an actual rotation in October are coming into focus.

Of course, none of this is a guarantee.

Yamamoto and Glasnow still have a lot of boxes to check off before they become surefire weapons for the postseason. Flaherty, who battled back problems earlier this season with the Detroit Tigers, has yet to get across the line healthy. The Dodgers could also benefit from the emergence of a clear No. 4 starter and are currently evaluating Walker Buehler, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller and Clayton Kershaw (if he returns from his current toe injury) for such a role.

But if things continue to unfold this way, the Dodgers’ potential playoff pitching plans may not be as jumbled together as the team once feared.

After missing nearly three months with a rotator cuff strain in his right throwing shoulder, Yamamoto couldn’t have been more impressive in his long-awaited return.

The Japanese rookie right-hander struck out the team in the first inning, fanning Ian Happ with a curveball and Dansby Swanson with a splitter before getting a generous third strike on a 98 mph fastball from Seiya Suzuki.

He allowed his only run in the second inning, allowing a single each to Isaac Paredes (on a well-placed splitter with two strikes) and Nico Hoerner (on a fastball on the first pitch) before a high hopper by Pete Crow-Armstrong beat Freddie Freeman at first base.

From there, Yamamoto retired six of his final seven batters, striking out the team again in the third inning – Happ and Suzuki missed on splitters while Swanson froze a fastball hit into the bottom corner – and negated a fourth-inning single with an inning-ending double play.

That was the end for Yamamoto, who had not thrown more than two innings in his minor league rehab assignments in recent weeks.

But the Dodgers hope this is the start of a late-season resurgence for the 26-year-old, $325 million pitcher, who has a 2.88 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 15 starts so far in his debut season.

Glasnow, whose status for October was uncertain since he was placed on the injured list last month with an elbow injury, also appears to be turning a corner.

The veteran right-hander and the team’s de facto player threw his second bullpen of the last week on Tuesday and impressed Roberts and the other club officials in an extended session in which he performed his entire pitch mix.

“It was good,” Roberts said. “I didn’t talk to him about it afterward, but I liked what I saw.”

Glasnow will next throw a simulated two- or three-inning game on Friday during the team’s trip to Atlanta. If that goes well, he could return before the end of the regular season, an encouraging development for the team’s $136.5 million signing, who was 9-6 with a 3.49 ERA before his injury.

“Getting him into a major league game (before the end of the regular season) is a priority,” Roberts said.

In his pregame address to reporters, Roberts remained cautiously optimistic about the state of the Dodgers’ pitchers (who are still without Kershaw, who returned to catcher on Tuesday, and Gavin Stone, who remains out with shoulder inflammation).

“In theory, there’s a hopeful part here, but there’s also a realistic part,” Roberts said when asked how well Yamamoto and Glasnow could be positioned by the time the playoffs begin.

“I think we’re all happy because whatever the situation is, it is what it is and we have to go from there. So obviously I’d like to say six (innings) and 90 (pitches) would be great. How realistic that is for both guys, time will tell.”

By the end of the evening, the manager was even more frustrated with his team’s patchy field performance.

After taking a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning – Tommy Edman hit two early home runs, his first of the season, and Max Muncy hit a home run in the fifth inning – the Dodgers surrendered during the Cubs’ five-run comeback.

Reliever Alex Vesia worked a leadoff walk. Throwing errors by Austin Barnes (who threw wide of first base after a swinging bunt) and Tommy Edman (who threw a ball up the middle that neither shortstop Miguel Rojas nor Muncy caught at third base) led to the two tying points. Then the decisive point came when second baseman Kiké Hernández lost the ball while trying to tag a baserunner on a potential double play.

These errors dampened the positive mood that had been building in the stadium following Yamamoto’s impressive start, and reminded us that there is still some fine-tuning to be done in the final stages of the season.

Still, compared to the team’s situation a few days ago, when Flaherty seemed to be the only sure bet for a possible postseason appearance, better days may finally be in sight for the Dodgers’ injury-plagued pitching staff.

While Tuesday’s win didn’t end in victory, it could position them for a strong push in October that once seemed in doubt.

Banda breaks his hand

Replacement Brusdar Graterol returned a day early from his hamstring strain, but not for the reason the Dodgers had hoped.

Shortly before the first pitch, the team announced that key left-handed reliever Anthony Banda was on the injured list due to a fracture of his left hand.

The cause and severity of the injury were not immediately clear.

Gonsolin begins rehab

In more positive pitcher injury news, right-hander Tony Gonsolin began rehab with Triple-A Oklahoma City and pitched two scoreless innings in his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.

It remains unlikely that Gonsolin will make the major league roster this year, Roberts said, unless a “crazy scenario” comes to pass.

But by completing some rehab work before the end of this year, Gonsolin should be primed for a smoother return to the Dodgers’ rotation in 2025.

Teoscar’s return

The Dodgers’ lineup is expected to receive a reinforcement of its own on Wednesday, as Teoscar Hernández will return to the batting order after missing the last four games with a bruised foot.

Hernández was available as a substitute on Tuesday. Roberts joked before the game that he had “not yet been able to convince the training staff” to give the green light to the batsman’s return to the starting lineup.