Dodgers trade deadline strengthened October starting rotation

The Dodgers entered the 2026 season with ambitions of becoming team to three-peat in 26 years. Following Monday’s trade deadline, they echoed that sentiment with a summer blockbuster and an encore.

Their string of deals began late Saturday night, as after suffering a 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, they struck a deal that infuriated nearly the entire baseball world. The Dodgers landed two-time defending AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers while sending away outfield prospect Zyhir Hope, right-hander River Ryan and pitching prospect Brady Smith.

The addition of Skubal not only invigorates an already vaunted rotation (when fully healthy), it gives the Dodgers another left-handed option that is a proven innings eater. Before Skubal needed surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow, he had logged at least six innings of work in six of his first seven starts. He hasn’t matched his pre-injury average start length since returning on June 13, but he has logged at least five innings in all but one of his nine final starts in Detroit.

For a Dodgers rotation that is still missing Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, adding Skubal in the mix keeps the six-man rotation as the norm for the pitching staff down the stretch. With Emmet Sheehan’s demotion to Triple-A, the current rotation features Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski and Eric Lauer, and until the other three starters return, the Dodgers could implement a weekly bullpen game. Skubal will certainly headline the four-man rotation in the postseason, and the Dodgers have seven options to choose to accompany him come October.

Gauging what the postseason rotation will be a work in progress until October arrives. Skubal and Yamamoto are shoe-ins at the top, but the final two spots are completely up for grabs. Blake Snell is set to return next week after a final rehab start, while Tyler Glasnow has yet to embark on his rehab assignment. The latter is projected to return sometime in September. Ohtani’s status for returning to the mound in the regular season is unclear, though the team expects him back in October. The trio of Sasaki, Wrobleski and Lauer all were used exclusively in relief last year for both the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

The Dodgers decided to acquire a former All-Star starting pitcher in fixing their bullpen, as they landed left-hander Kris Bubic from the Kansas City Royals. Although Bubic has been on the injured list since May, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that Bubic threw a bullpen on Monday, with the plan being to build him up as a reliever.

While the Dodgers have five available options for the rotation at the time of writing, Bubic is an excellent candidate to handle bulk duties for a bullpen game or come in for short, high-leverage situations. He already has previous experience in relief, as he made 27 appearances out of the bullpen with Kansas City in 2024, posting a 2.67 ERA across 30 innings before returning to the rotation the following season.

The Dodgers addressed their concerns at catcher by bringing back a pair of old friends; Ben Rortvedt from the New York Mets and Hunter Feduccia from the Tampa Bay Rays. Dalton Rushing has joined Will Smith on the injured list, and the tandem of Rortvedt and Feduccia ensure the Dodgers have a viable catching option against right-handed pitching. Eliézer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson both remain on the roster for now as options against left-handed pitching.

Once Smith and Rushing both return from injury, all three current options will see their playing time crunched dramatically, but they will steady the ship in the meantime.