Here's the wrinkle nobody wanted: the Dodgers' rotation is so deep it might talk them out of trading for the best pitcher on the planet. This is Dodgers Daily. Today — Matt Borelli's report on Dustin May's workload plan, and the big deadline question: does an elite six-man rotation make a Skubal chase a luxury, or just a logjam? And I've been waiting all week for this one — good problems only, baby. Kirk, take it away. Hit follow and you won't have to come looking for the next episode. Okay, so Dustin May is working his way back into the mix right as this rotation is finally clicking — what's the actual plan here, and does having him in the mix change how hard the Dodgers need to chase someone like Tarik Skubal before the deadline? Yeah, short version: it's complicated, and the Dodgers are already giving us a hint. Matt Borelli reported that they've started managing May's workload — they had him follow Ohtani out of the All-Star break in a relief role, and Dave Roberts basically called it 'a little combo.' So they're not treating this like a clean six-man rotation. May set career highs this year with 94.1 innings and 17 starts after coming back from Tommy John revision surgery and an emergency esophageal procedure, so the caution makes sense. And now Blake Snell is about to come off the 60-day IL — he got stretched out to four and two-thirds innings on 76 pitches in his final rehab start, per MLB.com's Dodgers Beat — which only crowds things more. The Dodgers also just had that stretch where they added a pitcher eight times in 13 days, per True Blue LA, so they're not going to plug May back into a full starter's role and call it done. Most likely, he's piggybacking or working bulk relief while Snell ramps up, unless they option someone once the rotation settles. So if they can cover innings internally with that kind of rotation depth, is Skubal more of a luxury move than a real need? Sporting News basically argued that — with this much depth, the Dodgers don't need Skubal, even while trade talk heats up around the league. The pushback is the cost. Skubal is a rental — he's in his final arbitration year and will hit free agency after the season — so the prospect price would still be real, and SI notes the Dodgers have usually preferred to build in the offseason rather than overpay at the deadline. So now you watch Snell's activation and May's workload plan for a few weeks. If the roster churn keeps going, or the injuries pop back up, the urgency changes fast. If following the Dodgers is part of how you keep up with L.A., try Los Angeles Politics and Urbanism Daily. It covers City Hall, housing abundance, homelessness response, Metro, public safety, and small-business permitting. Find it wherever you listen to podcasts.
We'll put links to every story we touched on today in the show notes, so if something caught your ear, you can head there to read more.
That's Dodgers Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.