Heading into Spring Training, the Los Angeles Dodgers very clearly expected to field an Opening Day rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda. That left Caleb Ferguson, Ross Stripling, Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana and Julio Urias as depth.
Of course, best-laid plans can often go awry, and that’s exactly what transpired. Kershaw was shut down early into camp and was eventually forced to begin the season on the 10-day injured list because of shoulder inflammation.
That moved Stripling from an expected role in the bullpen to the starting rotation. Then Rich Hill suffered a sprained MCL in his knee during the middle of March, and that created an opportunity for Urias.