Tyler Glasnow lands on the 60-day IL, and just like that, the rotation questions stop being whispers. This is the Dodgers Daily Podcast — I'm Kirk, alongside Joey, and today it's Glasnow, the taxi squad shuffle, and whether Friedman swings big at the deadline. Kirk, I'm not gonna gloat. Okay, maybe a little — but I called this compounding problem on Sunday. You called it loudly. Let's see if the receipts hold up. First up — Roberts' update on Glasnow. Roberts said the progress was, quote, 'okay.' Then the team puts him on the 60-day IL. So we're talking August at the earliest. 'Okay.' That's the word. And then the roster move says something very different. So which is it, Dave? Look, 'okay' isn't a lie — it's just vague enough to outrun the paperwork by a day. A day! The optimism had a 24-hour shelf life. I'd like Roberts' injury updates time-stamped from now on. Now the response — Chayce McDermott to the taxi squad. That's the front office moving a piece around. A reliever on standby is the answer to a rotation crisis? That's the tell, Kirk. They're patching the late innings, not the starting five. Depth is depth. You wanted someone called up — McDermott's the name they reached for. I asked yesterday why nobody got the call. Today McDermott's literally on the taxi squad — so fine, but a reliever doesn't eat Glasnow's innings. Which brings us to the bigger swing. FanSided's got the Dodgers in print as Skubal suitors. Skubal! You're gonna gut the farm for a starter when the leak's in the seventh and eighth? Backwards. Write it down. Tarik Skubal would, in fact, fill a rotation hole. Just spitballing. Sure, and then who closes the door behind him? So Friedman has to answer this — what's the actual plan here, beyond a name on a taxi squad? We've survived the McCourt years, Joey. A 60-day IL in June is a speed bump, not the apocalypse. Golden age, sure. Just don't tell me 'okay' is a recovery timeline. From J.P. Hoornstra at Sports Illustrated:
“He’s still not playing catch. It’s just the back spasms,” Roberts said (via the Southern California News Group). “Obviously with the back, he’s been limited. He wants to get cranking again but the doctors just aren’t allowing it and the body is not allowing for it right now.”
Roberts says he's still not playing catch. Not throwing, not cranking — the doctors won't let him, the body won't let him. That's the back spasms from May 6th in Houston still talking in June. And the receipts keep stacking up — elbow in '24, shoulder for two months in '25, now the back. Third major IL stint in two years, per SI. Nobody who signed that extension is shocked here. But here's what gnaws at me, Kirk — Roberts calls the progress 'okay' and then the guy's on a 60-day. August at the earliest. The public optimism and the roster move don't match. Or 'okay' meant okay for a back that won't let him pick up a baseball. Roberts didn't promise a date, Joey. You filled that in. Fine, but the rotation's been holding up — Ohtani, Yamamoto, Wrobleski, Sheehan, Sasaki haven't missed a turn. So what's the move? Putting McDermott on the taxi squad? If the answer to a starter problem is a reliever on standby, somebody tell me the actual plan. And with Glasnow still not throwing, that Skubal trade chatter only gets louder by the week. Friedman's deadline math just keeps tightening. Dave Roberts just described Glasnow's progress as 'okay,' and now Glasnow's been transferred to the 60-day IL — so how broken is this rotation plan, and when does Andrew Friedman have to override his own deadline philosophy? It's pretty broken, or at least stressed in all the ways Friedman hates. Glasnow went down with back spasms in early May — at first, it sounded short-term — but per SI's late-May reporting, he had a setback. Then on June 7th, ClutchPoints' Benjamin Adducchio reported that Roberts confirmed Glasnow still wasn't throwing, and he'd been moved to the 60-day IL. So he's not walking back into that rotation until at least mid-August. Add Blake Snell to it — elbow surgery to remove loose bodies, out for the foreseeable future per SI's May reporting — and now your two most proven starters are both unavailable. That's brutal for a front office run by a guy who said, per SI's late-May deadline preview, 'My goal is to not buy in July. It is terrible.' He stuck close to that last summer and only made limited moves. Now we find out if the internal depth can carry them through July without forcing his hand. Friedman has said he hates buying in July, but he's also chasing a third straight World Series title — at some point, doesn't the math just override the philosophy? That's the tension. Friedman addressed the injuries directly back in May, per SI, but he stopped well short of committing to a deadline swing. So yeah, his default is still to grind it out internally. If Glasnow's 60-day clock pushes him to mid-August and the rotation keeps bleeding, the math changes fast — watch for prospect movement or quiet roster flexibility between now and late July. That's probably the tell. FantasyPros, with Ari Koslow:
The Dodgers placed Chayce McDermott on their taxi squad. (Bill Plunkett on Twitter) McDermott is with the team ready to be called up if needed. Chayce McDermott and Jake Eder here on taxi squad in case#Dodgers bullpen needs freshening up. No roster move yet
So the answer to a rotation crisis is Chayce McDermott parked on the taxi squad. Per Bill Plunkett — McDermott and Jake Eder, sitting there in case the bullpen needs freshening up. No roster move yet. Yesterday I was asking: why River Ryan, why McDermott, why doesn't anybody internal get the call? Today McDermott's literally on standby. That's the front office telling on itself. Plunkett's words, not the team's — 'in case the bullpen needs freshening up.' That's a contingency, Joey, not a confession. Taxi squad guys ride along every road trip. Sure, but you stash a reliever the day after Glasnow goes 60-day. The timing isn't subtle, Kirk. Right after Roberts calls his progress 'okay,' the receipts say August at the earliest. McDermott and Eder aren't fixing a rotation. So either the plan's bigger than a taxi squad, or there's no plan you can see from a tweet. Here's Fansided:
The Dodgers are the team most frequently connected to Tarik Skubal. It makes sense. Los Angeles has MLB's deepest farm system and the financial liquidity to re-sign the reigning AL Cy Young winner as a free agent.
So Fansided's got it in print now — Dodgers as Skubal suitors, deepest farm in baseball, all that. And my whole thing yesterday was, why are we burning prospects on a starter when the leak is in the eighth inning? Read the rest of their own piece, Joey — they predict the Cubs land him, not us. Their logic: L.A. can just sign Skubal as a free agent this winter without giving up a single prospect. Right, and that's the part I'll actually take. Why mortgage the farm in August for a guy you can buy in November? That's patience I can live with. It's two months out, the deadline's August 3rd, and half the league is still in the Wild Card. Predicting a blockbuster right now is mostly a vibe with a byline. Got a Dodgers question, story idea, or correction we should know about? Send it our way at dodgersdailyfancast at lantern podcasts dot com. We'd love to hear from you.
You'll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if something stood out, take a minute to read a little deeper. That's Dodgers Daily Podcast for Wednesday, June 10th. This is a Lantern Podcast.