The Dodgers heading into Tuesday were on the brink of another potential problem in their starting rotation. With Tyler Glasnow is slated to start Wednesday and Clayton Kershaw's return is earmarked for Thursday, giving Los Angeles some much-needed pitching depth. That pitching depth could've unraveled quickly had Landon Knack gone out and struggled against the Giants on Tuesday night. Instead, the rookie right-hander delivered.
One of the key reasons LA's pitching depth has been tested so much this season is players like Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler struggling to find consistency. Miller was sent down after a rocky start to his 2024 season and Buehler was placed on the IL so he could work through some issues stemming from his return from a second Tommy John surgery.
Knack was on the verge of a similar problem after a strong start to the year. In his two starts prior to Tuesday he'd allowed seven runs on 10 hits in 8.2 innings with two walks and 11 strikeouts. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't trending the right direction.
Then Knack righted the ship Tuesday.
He was stellar in 5.0 innings -- his longest outing since June 21. He allowed only one run on two hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.
This was much closer to the version of Knack we saw in the earlier portion of the season. He was a starter the Dodgers can feel good about sending out every fifth day and giving themselves a chance to win the game. Had Knack struggled again we might've been talking about yet another starter going to the Minors or having his turn in the rotation skipped. Alas, he was missing bats again Tuesday and LA once again has a reliable rookie on the starting staff.
The Dodgers' rotation still isn't perfect. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler are still question marks on if/when they'll return. And it looks like more pitching will come at the deadline. Having Knack pitching the way he did Tuesday night certainly makes the situation at least a little less dire.
Editor's note: The title for this story was supposed to be 'Just in the Knack of time,' but the SEO Gods don't reward such behavior.