Dodgers 2025 pitching rotation with Blake Snell: How the ‘No. 1 fourth starter’ fits in with Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow

The Dodgers are picking up again.

Any notion that the reigning World Series champions would have a quiet offseason after handing out more than $1 billion in contracts last winter was dashed when Los Angeles signed a five-year, $182 million contract on Tuesday night. Dollar finished with starter Blake Snell.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner had a rocky start to his only season with the Giants, but he blamed that on signing him so late in the offseason. The numbers prove it. With a 1.23 ERA and 114 strikeouts in his last 14 starts, he’s been absolutely dominant down the stretch.

This time around, Snell becomes the first top free agent off the market, joining a Dodgers rotation that suddenly looks much better than it did last October.

Here’s how Snell fits into Los Angeles’ starting rotation in 2025.

MORE: How Blake Snell will impact the Dodgers’ payroll in 2025

Dodgers pitching rotation prediction for 2025

1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto
2. Tyler Glasnow
3. Blake Snell
4. Shohei Ohtani
5. Tony Gonsolin

The order in which the Dodgers line up their starters may not be determined until the season begins, but that’s a fun problem for manager Dave Roberts. There are four starters in the rotation who could emerge as the No. 1 starter on other teams.

Yamamoto put in top performances when he was healthy in his rookie season, while Glasnow shouldn’t be forgotten despite his injury history. The former Rays star had a 2.88 ERA and 135 strikeouts in 16 starts before an elbow injury earlier this summer derailed his season.

It’s worth noting that Glasnow’s 22 starts in 2024 were a career-high, so a full season probably can’t be the expectation even if he enters the season feeling 100 percent.

That’s why the Dodgers felt adding Snell was a must, despite so much talent on the roster. He’s not the perfect pitcher, as his control issues show, but he’s managed to avoid serious arm injuries in his career and is one of the dirtiest pitchers in the MLB in his prime. Regardless of whether he’s Los Angeles’ No. 1 or No. 4 starter, Snell brings no-hit potential and can at least stabilize the rotation if injuries occur elsewhere.

Ohtani is a wild card as he returns to the mound for the first time since 2023, but the Dodgers plan to work him into the rotation and can ease the pressure on him now that Snell is in the game.

Tony Gonsolin, a former All-Star who failed to recapture the magic of 2022, is currently the Dodgers’ projected No. 5 starter, although free agent Clayton Kershaw is expected to pitch in 2025 and young Bobby Miller is still there in the organization and hope to bounce back after an ugly season.

Then the question about Roki Sasaki remains. Could the Japanese phenom still end up with the Dodgers after the Snell deal? Financially, yes. Due to his age, he is subject to international amateur free agent rules, meaning he will be available for significantly less than Yamamoto was a year ago.

Would Sasaki be put off by the idea of ​​being No. 5 on a team already filled with big names who can overshadow him? That might be all the other 29 teams can hope for at this point, as the appeal of playing against the reigning World Series champions with Ohtani and Yamamoto must be strong.

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What Blake Snell brings to the Dodgers rotation

Snell has its drawbacks, one of which is inefficiency. Even though he can be the most dominant pitcher in baseball when in action, Snell often doesn’t last longer than six innings because control issues increase the number of pitches he throws.

Most of the time, Snell is so dominant in other areas that he is able to bypass walks or full counts and get the job done. After all, he managed to win a Cy Young Award in 2023 despite an increased walk rate of five per nine innings.

If the Dodgers’ rotation works the way the team envisions, they won’t need too much length from Snell. Los Angeles is happy to give the veteran five or six strong innings, knowing the group is deep enough that he doesn’t have to be a real workhorse. Roberts proved in October that he can handle a pitching staff if his starter doesn’t give too much length (or if he doesn’t have a starter at all).

What’s interesting, however, is that the Dodgers don’t have a true workhorse other than their four starters. Los Angeles will always be extremely cautious with Ohtani’s arm given how valuable he is to the lineup, while Yamamoto and Glasnow both missed 2024 with arm injuries. Yamamoto’s small stature could make him a little more susceptible to injury, while Glasnow has a longer injury history.

The Dodgers may not be able to consistently get their starters past the sixth inning, but it’s fair to question whether they even need to given their talent.