From the Game 1 guy to the six-pitch magician: Your complete guide to the Dodgers' unhittable ace-filled rotation

The Los Angeles Dodgers' pitching rotation has been the astir ascendant unit of this year's MLB playoffs, with L.A.'s 4 aces combining for a microscopic 1.40 ERA and 81 strikeouts implicit 10 postseason starts.

With seemingly each show from Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani comes a caller question of stats that convey the rarity of their achievements racing astir societal media.

As L.A.'s 4 starters hole to look the the Toronto Blue Jays successful the World Series, we're present to get you acceptable for their Fall Classic appearances with a usher to what each does champion and the transportation premix that makes the quartet truthful dominant.

Blake Snell: The Game 1 guy

What helium has done this October: 0.86 ERA, 12.0 K/9 successful 21 IP

What makes him truthful good: Snell's excellence is casual to understand: He has been a frontline starter for astir a decade, signed a $182 cardinal woody past twelvemonth and is simply a lefty who throws successful the mid-90s. He already has 2 Cy Young awards and a 3.15 ERA implicit his 10-year large league career. But determination has been a subtle alteration successful his attack during his archetypal twelvemonth with the Dodgers that has powered his playoff dominance.

How helium uses his pitches: Snell had been a powerfulness fastball/breaking shot pitcher for fundamentally his full vocation -- but this season, his changeup became his second-most-used transportation and his wide champion by tally worth (i.e. bully things happened erstwhile helium threw it this year, overmuch much truthful than his different pitches). Run worth tin beryllium somewhat deceptive -- what if your dominating fastball gets hitters connected their heels, but the changeup gets the strikeout and each of the statistical recognition for the strikeout? Snell seems to judge successful what the numbers are showing, too.

His changeup usage was 23.6% successful the regular play and is 32.4% successful the playoffs. His regular-season miss complaint connected the transportation was 43.5% and it's 65.5% successful the playoffs. It has been astatine 60% oregon higher successful each 3 of his playoff starts. The transportation question and velocity is astir identical to past year's version, but the outcomes, specifically the in-zone interaction complaint and motorboat space allowed, person improved beauteous dramatically.

Snell threw the transportation lone 2% of the clip against left-handed hitters successful the regular play but that has ticked up successful the playoffs, expanding with each commencement to 7% against the Brewers.

Those other changeups are fundamentally coming astatine the disbursal of his fastball usage. Throwing less fastballs is somewhat communal successful the high-stakes situation of the playoffs, but Snell is thriving by relying much connected his changeup than his slider and curveball successful those cardinal situations this year.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto: The six-pitch magician

What he's done this October: 1.83 ERA, 8.2 K/9 successful 19⅔ IP

What makes him truthful good: Yamamoto came into the league past twelvemonth with a batch of hype and mostly met it, but missed astir 3 months due to the fact that of a enarthrosis contented aft being deed astir successful his archetypal large league appearance.

This year, helium took a large measurement guardant and looks much than worthy his $325 cardinal deal, throwing 173⅔ innings with a 2.49 ERA and sparkling peripherals that added up to a 5.0 WAR regular season. If you consult tally values, each six of his pitches were amended successful 2025 than 2024, successful summation to throwing astir doubly arsenic galore innings. What did helium change?

The velocity and question of his pitches are fundamentally the aforesaid and the usage of those pitches was fundamentally the same, different than shifting 5% usage of his curveball to his cutter, arsenic helium improved the question connected his cutter by a fewer inches.

How helium uses his pitches: Take a look astatine the subtle shifts with his 2 champion pitches: his four-seam fastball and splitter. Here are the locat...