The Los Angeles Dodgers received an unexpected hit to their starting rotation when it was announced that Gavin Stone was likely to miss the remainder of the 2024 season and postseason because of inflammation in his right shoulder. Now, the Dodgers have announced that Stone underwent surgery on his right shoulder by Dr. Neal El Attrache and is likely to miss the entire 2025 season.
Stone was in his second season as a starter for the Dodgers, and his first season as a full-time starter. Stone made his debut in May 2023 and emerged as one of the team’s starters in their rotation to start the year.
During the season, Stone started 25 games. He went 11-5 with a 3.53 ERA and 116 strikeouts over those starts, and led the Dodgers’ pitchers in starts, innings pitched, and wins this season.
Stone last pitched for the Dodgers on Aug. 31, when he allowed five hits and five earned runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. When Stone was initially injured, the Dodgers were unsure if he would be able to return from his injury. Now, he is not even expected to return for next season.
As the Dodgers dealt with countless injuries to pitchers — Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Dustin May, River Ryan, Tony Gonsolin, Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier, and Evan Phillips all missed significant time because of injury — Stone was a steady member of the rotation.
Before Stone became injured for the final month of the regular season, Stone was the only pitcher to make every one of his starts to that point of the season. James Paxton had previously been a consistent part of the rotation until he was traded to the Boston Red Sox ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
With Stone injured for next season, the Dodgers’ rotation will have questions once again heading into the 2025 season. May and Gonsolin are expected to return, but how will they pitch coming back from major injuries? Will Kershaw return, and will Glasnow be able to stay healthy next season?
The Dodgers’ rotation will get a significant boost as Shohei Ohtani will return to pitching. Ohtani is expected to be ready to pitch at the start of the 2025 season, after only playing as a designated hitter this season as his pitching arm recovered from Tommy John surgery.
