The Dodgers have gone with a surprise name for Game 1 of the National League Division Series, turning to left-hander Tarik Skubal against the Atlanta Braves.
That decision leaves Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the reigning World Series Most Valuable Player award winner, out of the opener. His turn should come later in the series, though exactly when is still up in the air.
Skubal arrived in Los Angeles ahead of the trade deadline as something of a luxury add-on. That changed quickly once injuries thinned out the rotation in the second half, and he’s now at the front of the staff when it matters most.
His regular-season run with the Dodgers wasn’t flawless, but it was still plenty good. In 10 starts, he put up a 2.61 ERA with 70 strikeouts across 62 innings.
Even with that success, Skubal thinks there’s more in the tank.
“Those numbers are great. I think there’s just some things where I could be better,” Skubal said after his final start of the regular season.
“[My last start] was a really good day, but I’ve also had some kind of poor performances. Especially the walk number to me kind of stands out.
That might be showing me that I’m a little timid subconsciously. I’m not attacking the way I know how to attack.
I had two last game. I feel like the last five or six starts I’ve had a walk in every single game.
“My stuff’s too good to give a guy a free pass. Let him earn it.
… I’ve got eight guys behind me, too. So let them earn their way on instead of giving a free pass.
There’s always room for improvement. I’m not really satisfied with anything I’ve accomplished so far.”
His postseason track record is strong, too. Over six career playoff starts in the last two years, Skubal has a 2.04 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 39.2 innings.
The one rougher outing came in Game 5 of the 2024 ALDS, when he gave up five runs over six innings. Outside of that, he has allowed one run or fewer in four of those six starts.
Last postseason, Skubal made three starts for the Detroit Tigers and finished with a 1.74 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 20.2 innings.
Yamamoto’s absence from Game 1 is a notable wrinkle because the Dodgers generally prefer not to use him on short rest. If he had taken the opener, he would have been lined up for Game 5 as well.
Still, manager Dave Roberts made it clear the club views its top four starters as interchangeable at this point.
“To be honest, we can kind of really put all four guys in a hat and run them out there,” Roberts said this week.
The next move in the series is still being sorted out. After Yamamoto threw a simulated game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday and stayed on his once-a-week schedule, he could be pushed to Tuesday’s Game 3 in Atlanta. That would likely put Blake Snell in Game 2 and Tyler Glasnow in Game 4.
If the series reaches a fifth game, Skubal would be lined up for the winner-take-all start.
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