Whatever the Dodgers are saying publicly, the truth is they don’t know what their starting rotation will look like in October.

While Blake Snell was finishing up a minor-league rehabilitation assignment on Tuesday, Tyler Glasnow was just starting one.

As for Shohei Ohtani, who knows what his status is, the two-way player a month removed from the last time he pitched in a game.

Ordinarily, this kind of uncertainty would be a major source of anxiety. But for these Dodgers, anything they get out of their mending starters will almost be a bonus. 

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Chicago. AP Photo/Melissa Tamez

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Caroline Brehman

In the absolute worst-case scenario, they could ride their two best starters.

Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto – or should that be Yamamoto and Skubal? – could by themselves lead the Dodgers to their third consecutive World Series title.

In a five-game series, they could start a combined three times. In a seven-game series, four.

Other teams used this formula to win championships.

The Washington Nationals with Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer. The San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. The Arizona Diamondbacks with Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. And before any of that, of course, the Dodgers with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

When Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said his team was focused on Skubal, and Skubal only, in the days leading up to the trade deadline, this was why.

“Whenever there’s a star-level player that is available that can really shift championship odds,” Friedman said, “those are the moments that we’ll be more aggressive.”

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto prepares to throw during a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Caroline Brehman

Tarik Skubal #29 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images

In Yamamoto, the Dodgers already had a pitcher who last year delivered one of the greatest postseason runs in recent memory. In Skubal, they picked up a two-time Cy Young Award winner whom Yamamoto called the best pitcher in the game.

If there were any questions about how Skubal would perform under the greater scrutiny that comes with playing for the Dodgers, he answered them on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

With the game nationally televised on TBS, Skubal scaled the mound to a chorus of boos.

The scene made Skubal envision what October would be like.

“I’m sure that’s not going to be the only rowdy atmosphere on the road,” Skubal told reporters. “I plan on pitching in those atmospheres for the rest of the season, and then obviously when it comes to postseason time, I’ll be ready to go.”

He was ready to go in his Dodgers debut.

Forget about how his team was beaten by the Chicago Cubs, 5-1. Skubal pitched like the real deal.

He was charged with loss after giving up two runs in six innings, but the game would have played out much differently for him if Kyle Tucker hadn’t butchered a play in the sixth inning.

Tucker failed to make an overhead catch at the warning track, turning a would-be lineout by Alex Bregman into a double that advanced Seiya Suzuki to third base. Suzuki was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice, but Bregman later scored on a freakishly high chopper by Nick Hoerner to move the Cubs in front, 2-1.

If Tucker had made that catch, Skubal probably wouldn’t have allowed a second run and might have pitched another inning.

The results weren’t as important as how Skubal looked. 

Skubal’s fastball velocity ticked back up to around where it was last season, the average velocity of the pitch more than 97 mph.

The elevated fastball set up his changeup and slider.

The only real mistake he made was on a third-inning fastball that he threw to Dansby Swanson that drifted near the middle of the plate. Swanson sent the pitch halfway up the left-field stands.

“Tarik’s stuff was good,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters. “This is the first time I saw him live, but even when you know it’s not perfect, it’s still pretty good.”

With the addition of Skubal, Roberts said, the Dodgers’ starting pitching is “as good as I’ve seen.”

At the moment, that group exists solely on paper.

Maybe that rotation never comes together. Maybe the pitchers who return fail to rediscover the form that made the All-Stars.

Skubal and Yamamoto could make that not matter.

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