The Dodgers are shuffling their rotation

We mentioned this recently in an article, but the Dodgers and the Brewers are sure to give us a run for our money on the mound.

Both teams' bullpens (especially Milwaukee's) are very strong… and their rotations are incredible.

On paper, the Dodgers may have the most impressive starting rotation in the league—even though Shohei Ohtani is too injured to make an impact on the mound.

In the division series, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow were used, in that order.

Seeing Skubal start ahead of Yamamoto surprised a lot of people. But seeing Snell start ahead of Yamamoto was even more surprising.

One might have wondered if this was hiding something—an injury, for example. After all, the Japanese pitcher had been rested.

But now it turns out that Yamamoto, who was excellent in his start against the Braves just a few days ago, will not pitch Game 3 against Milwaukee.

He'll pitch Game 2 (on the road, as was the case against the Atlanta Braves) of the Championship Series.

Tarik Skubal will start Game 1, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting Game 2 for the Dodgers in the NLCS against the Brewers, per @ByJackHarris pic.twitter.com/e8wI91D6uF

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 9, 2026

Once again, Tarik Skubal will take the mound (likely against Jacob Misiorowski this time) in the Dodgers' series opener.

But let's get back to Yamamoto.

Did they just want to give him more rest before his first playoff start—the one against the Braves? Did they want him on the road?

Who knows.

But what we do know is that Dave Roberts has his hands full. There's no outright “wrong answer” when it comes to his starting pitchers.

Still, it seems that the more Yamamoto pitches, the better off the Dodgers are.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.