{"id":55849,"date":"2025-06-14T07:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T07:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55849"},"modified":"2025-06-14T07:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T07:29:08","slug":"breaking-dodgers-make-major-announcement-about-pitchers-new-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55849","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Dodgers Make Major Announcement About Pitcher\u2019s New Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"has-video wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219686566-e1749857621630.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219686566-e1749857621630.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219686566-e1749857621630.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219686566-e1749857621630.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Ben Casparius\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"720\" data-dom-ready-time=\"814\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>After winning the 2024 World Series, the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0were widely expected to repeat as champions in 2025 thanks to another strong offseason that saw them land coveted Japanese pitching prospect Roki Sasaki. To this point, though, their starting rotation has been\u00a0battered by injuries, prompting manager Dave Roberts to make an intriguing move involving Ben Casparius.<\/p>\n<p>The Dodgers have several of their expected starters, such as Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and the aforementioned Sasaki, sitting on the injured list. Guys like Gavin Stone, River Ryan, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan are all options who could have filled in for that crop, but they also are on the injured list. As a result, Roberts has decided that Casparius will become the latest arm to join Los Angeles\u2019 battered starting rotation.<\/p>\n<h2>Dave Roberts Moving Ben Casparius to Dodgers Starting Rotation<\/h2>\n<div class=\"embed-youtube-com\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/DJLKl7Qjfe0?t=1<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<p>Casparius is the latest in a long line of pitchers that the Dodgers have seen find immediate success in the majors after emerging from seemingly out of nowhere. The 26-year-old has taken the mound in 22 games this season, posting a 2.86 ERA while racking up 46 strikeouts in 44 innings of work. Considering all the injuries the team is dealing with (their bullpen has also been destroyed by the injury bug), Casparius\u2019 contributions have been huge.<\/p>\n<p>With starters dropping like flies, Roberts gave the ball to Casparius on Wednesday against the San Diego Padres. The risky decision worked, as Casparius gave Los Angeles\u2019 four solid innings of work, giving up just one run on three hits and two walks while striking out a pair of batters. That was all the Dodgers needed, as the lineup produced five runs while the bullpen allowed only one more run to score over the final five innings.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the season, Casparius has been a Swiss-army knife for Roberts, but he\u2019s getting a more clearly defined role moving forward. That\u2019s because after this game, Roberts quickly declared that Casparius was set to join the Dodgers\u00a0starting rotation\u00a0after his successful outing against L.A.\u2019s top competition in the National League West.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy way of need and where we were at, we felt that there was more value out of the \u2018pen and being kind of a versatile-type reliever,\u201d Roberts said per Sonja Chen of MLB.com. \u201cBut where we are at now, currently, he\u2019s certainly showing that he\u2019s one of five. \u2026 The next time he\u2019s on the mound, it\u2019ll be as a starter.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Dodgers Put Their Faith in Ben Casparius Amid Injury Crisis<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5388588\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-5388588 visible\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219686566-e1749857621630.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Ben Casparius\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5388588\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219686566-e1749857621630.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5388588\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dave Roberts revealed that Ben Casparius is officially moving to the Dodgers starting rotation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At some point, the Dodgers will get healthy, and when they do, Casparius will shift back to the bullpen. For now, though, his ability to pitch multiple innings is precisely what Roberts needs, and it\u2019s made him a valuable commodity for the team as they wait for their superstar starters to get healthy again.<\/p>\n<p>Once L.A. gets healthy, they are expected to reemerge as the best team in the majors. For now, though, they are just trying to hang onto their lead atop the division, and they will be counting on guys like Casparius to get them to the promised land over the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty After winning the 2024 World Series, the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0were widely expected to repeat as champions in 2025 thanks to another strong offseason that saw them land&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Dodgers Make Major Announcement About Pitcher\u2019s New Role - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55849\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Dodgers Make Major Announcement About Pitcher\u2019s New Role - 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