Dodgers takeaways: Gavin Stone's development, Shohei Ohtani's next task and more (2024)

LOS ANGELES — When Gavin Stone took the mound on Sunday afternoon, few people in either dugout had seen more of him than Ryan Pepiot. The two right-handed changeup artists were drafted a year apart but matriculated simultaneously through the Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league system, each achieving premium prospect status. Their builds vary but their arsenals and track records have largely mirrored one another, including now as each has enjoyed something of a breakout season.

Stone has become the only rock-solid thing in the Dodgers rotation, emerging from his surprise Opening Day inclusion to become the lone starter to go wire-to-wire without missing a start. Through 24 starts, he has a 3.33 ERA.

Pepiot, now with Tampa Bay, served as the headliner in the Dodgers’ package this December to acquire Tyler Glasnow and has logged a 3.65 ERA in 19 starts.

His shared background with Stone informed Pepiot’s perspective when, with his Rays back at Dodger Stadium this past weekend, he watched Stone deliver seven innings of one-run ball in the Dodgers’ 3-1 win.

Stone’s arsenal has evolved over the past few months, prompting Pepiot to chide his old teammate when they reunited.

“Hey, dude, you got enough buttons on PitchCom to call all your stuff now?” Pepiot quipped before Stone utilized six different options over his 80 pitches on Sunday.

The Dodgers won, 3-1. They are 78-53. The division lead remains three.

Gavin Stone was great. Mookie Betts had the big swing late. Anthony Banda hit 98 mph to end it. Dodgers will have an off day before the Orioles come to town.

Time of game: 2:03.

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— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 25, 2024

Stone adopted new pitches after his disastrous first taste of the major leagues. A riding four-seam fastball and his trademark changeup were supplemented with a more consistent slider, a cutter that he’s used against lefties, a sinker to combat righties and a slow curveball to steal strikes when the changeup cannot. Oh, and a sweeper mixed in. That, combined with a jump in velocity (94.9, up 0.9 mph from a year ago), makes him harder to hit.

Pepiot, whose first taste of the majors was mixed, sees something else that mirrored his own development.

“My first year, I didn’t throw very many strikes,” Pepiot said after walking 27 batters in his first 36 1/3 big-league innings. “But it took that experience. Stoney, his first few in the big leagues were tough, but then he had a stretch where he threw the ball really well. I think him realizing how things went at first and then going out there and having success when he was in the zone, was filling it up, and knowing that his stuff plays, I think just that little confidence boost.”

Stone’s walk rate is down. He’s attacking the strike zone with his diverse repertoire, even without strikeout rates that would usually correlate to the dominance Stone had in the minors (he did strike out seven on Sunday). It’s worked better for him in the bigs.

“It’s not a straight path for anybody,” Pepiot said. “I just think having those extra pitches has helped him a lot, and him just being able to go out there and command the zone, fill it up with 97 on a riding fastball, and a sinker, throwing the cutter too and he’s got the slower curveball to slow things down and he’s got the elite changeup. That’s a recipe for success to be a starting pitcher in this league for a while.”

Shohei Ohtani’s next task

It wasn’t until shortly after 11:05 a.m. that Shohei Ohtani strolled into Dodger Stadium clubhouse for Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. start, much to the glee of one Joe Kelly, who barked out to him.

“Show and go!” Kelly said, or, Sho and go.

Ohtani is relentlessly attached to his sleep, and, well, it’s been a busy weekend for him. He fulfilled his quest on Friday to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases before the calendar flipped to September, putting gaudier figures — 45-45? 50-50? — within reach (neither has been done before).

Then came Saturday, when Ohtani climbed the mound and threw his first bullpen session since undergoing his second ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction on his right elbow. Ohtani came out of that session well. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed again Sunday the plan is still for Ohtani to ramp up to the point of facing hitters before being shut down as a pitcher until 2025.

So, what is next? A pursuit of 50-50 remains possible. He’s on pace for 51 homers and 49 steals through Sunday’s action.

Then there are some of the leverage stats of old. Ohtani’s walk-off grand slam to clinch 40-40 was just his 16th homer this season with runners on base, and third with runners in scoring position this season. His OPS with runners in scoring position this season entering Sunday still sat at just .696, well off from his career 1.063 OPS in those spots during his time with the Angels.

The underperformance there, on the surface, appears to be a blip. He isn’t striking out more often with runners in scoring position than he had previously. The small-sample stats suggest that Ohtani has performed worse on balls in play than in seasons past in those spots.

“I think that he knows, we all know, what he’s capable of with runners in scoring position,” Roberts said Saturday. “I would be willing to bet that it’s only going to get better, and last night was a case in point. But I think for me, it seems just some talent here, just continue to do what he’s been doing, taking good at-bats, and let the talent play.”

He avoided disaster when a sinker from Rays reliever Richard Lovelady hit him on his left forearm in the eighth inning Sunday. Initial scans were negative and the star is expected to be fine.

A bullpen wild card (or two)

The Dodgers have boasted a top-five bullpen in the majors by ERA this season yet developments on the margins deserve scrutiny. Their 4.23 FIP suggests some slight regression. They’ve surrendered home runs at the fifth-highest rate of any bullpen in baseball. And while the Dodgers have a troika of late-inning options that could handle the ninth inning behind Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Daniel Hudson (three of 12 different Dodgers to record a save), they’re relying on some sustained performance out of spots they weren’t expecting to just a few months ago.

Given that Hudson had hardly pitched the previous two seasons and settled for a minor-league deal this winter, it’s remarkable what the Dodgers have gotten out of him. Hudson has a 2.61 ERA in his age-37 season and has gone wire-to-wire. He also entered Sunday with 51 2/3 innings pitched (tied for his 2021 total), on pace for his most since 2019. That’s part of why Roberts gave Hudson something of a reset this weekend.

They’ve already gotten a strong 37 appearances (2.70 ERA) out of Blake Treinen after the right-hander effectively missed 2022 and 2023 with shoulder trouble that ultimately required surgery. They just got Ryan Brasier back. Alex Vesia has had a bounce-back campaign. Anthony Banda has been a revelation.

Now, they could see a pair of wild cards enter the mix. It remains a marvel that Brusdar Graterol — just weeks after being helped off the mound — remains in play for the Dodgers. But Graterol threw a bullpen session on Saturday. He’s moving well. He could start a rehab assignment next week.

“I’m still counting on him,” Roberts said.

Even more surprising: Tony Gonsolin’s 2024 season might not be over, after all. It’s been just shy of 12 months since Gonsolin went under the knife for Tommy John surgery (on Sept. 1, 2023), but he was back at Dodger Stadium throwing in front of Dodgers personnel Sunday morning. He’s been facing hitters in Arizona, sitting 92 to 94 mph with his fastball. It’s gone even faster than Gonsolin said he expected, especially after pulling his hamstring during spring training. If his next couple of live sessions go well, he could go on a rehab assignment.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Gonsolin said.

The door “is slightly open” for him to return as a reliever, Roberts said.

(Photo of Gavin Stone: Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)

Fabian Ardaya is a staff writer covering the Los Angeles Dodgers for The Athletic. He previously spent three seasons covering the crosstown Los Angeles Angels for The Athletic. He graduated from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in May 2017 after growing up in a Phoenix-area suburb. Follow Fabian on Twitter @FabianArdaya