Why Dodgers are already thinking about endurance test that awaits in 2026

Just weeks into the offseason, the Dodgers are already thinking 11 months ahead.

Having just finished yet another grueling October campaign, they are bracing for the long road required to get back.

The team’s central focus right now, of course, is on bolstering its roster and supplementing its star-studded core coming out of last week’s annual MLB general managers’ meetings in Las Vegas.

But as they go for a World Series three-peat in 2026, one of their primary challenges will be managing the returning talent — and ensuring the burdensome toll from their previous two title treks doesn’t become a roadblock in their pursuit of another ring.

That thinking was present last week, when general manager Brandon Gomes announced that utilityman Tommy Edman will undergo surgery to address an ankle injury that nagged him for the second half of this past season.

When asked about Edman’s recovery timeline, Gomes said the “goal” is to have him ready for spring training — but that the team was also “gonna be smart” about making sure he isn’t rushed back.

“Obviously, he hasn’t had [the surgery] yet. So we’ll look into that as we get into the rehab process,” Gomes said. “And like we do with everything, let’s keep the big picture in mind, with the goal of playing through October.”

Taking such a long view has become an annual practice for the Dodgers. Their collection of star talent and organizational depth means they are almost always in position to make the playoffs. It has afforded them leeway to manage players’ regular-season workloads and recovery from injuries with an eye toward having them at full strength come the fall.

It was a balance the team struck well this past season, navigating a wave of regular-season pitching injuries to have their rotation fully healthy to spearhead their postseason run.

Next season, however, the difficulty of that task could be significantly amplified.

Their already aging roster will be another year older. The after-effects of playing 33 extra games the past two Octobers will be acutely felt. And while it’s a price the Dodgers have been happy to pay, it will make next year an ultimate test of endurance that the club is already accounting for now.

“That’s an extra month to a month and a half that you don’t get to rest and recover, and that you’re pushing beyond what you normally do,” third baseman Max Muncy said during this year’s playoffs about the challenges that come with deep October runs. “One postseason game is the equivalent of playing three extra-inning games, all at one time. The stress — both mental, physical, emotional — it’s just on a whole ‘nother level.”

The big question in 2026 will be how the Dodgers’ pitching bounces back from this October’s heavy workload. All four of their top starters (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani) threw more than 20 postseason innings and worked either out of the bullpen and/or on short rest. Yamamoto logged a whopping 37 ⅓ innings between his two complete games and heroic back-to-back performances in Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.

Typically, that kind of mileage can have adverse effects the following season.

The good news is that the Dodgers have depth. They could run a six-man rotation of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Roki Sasaki (who will return to starting pitching duties after his stint as a reliever at the end of last year) and Emmet Sheehan. They have other young arms capable of providing innings as well, from Ben Casparius and Justin Wrobleski to the return of Gavin Stone and River Ryan from injury.

“Playing this deep, guys did things that most people don’t do in the World Series, so it’s just making sure we’re being prudent on the front end and saying, ‘If we need extra rest here, we can do it,’” Gomes said. “We have ways to navigate it.”

Still, complications loom — starting with the triennial World Baseball Classic scheduled for next March.

Nine current Dodgers participated in the event’s 2023 edition, and several more could be candidates for next spring’s tournament. The most intriguing names on that list are the club’s Japanese trio of Yamamoto, Ohtani and Sasaki, who will be expected to star for their home country as it tries to defend its 2023 title in the international event.

Some pitchers in their situations might sit out the WBC, or pitch with strict workload limitations coming off the kind of strenuous stretch they experienced in the playoffs — not to mention the shoulder injury that sidelined Sasaki for much of the year. But the tournament’s significance in Japan (where it is held in even higher standing than the World Series) would make any sort of limitations on their availability a culturally controversial development — and leave the Dodgers in a potentially tricky position if they were to try to push for any of them to prioritize extra rest.

“We haven’t gotten into WBC stuff yet,” Gomes said. “I’m sure we’ll be getting those asks in soon.”

Ohtani himself presents another question for next regular season, as he embarks on what will be his first full-time season as a two-way player since 2023.

Though Gomes said Ohtani’s pitching plan will “probably look more like a normal schedule than last year” — when he slowly built up in his return from a second career Tommy John surgery, and didn’t make full-length starts until the end of the season — he also said Ohtani’s usage could be somewhat “fluid,” leaving the door open to some flexibility with his schedule as he also balances his designated hitting duties.

“Everything we’ll do is with a big-picture mindset,” Gomes reiterated. “So those are conversations we’ll have as we get closer [to next season].”

There could be similar conversations with some of the club’s older stars. By the end of next October, Freddie Freeman will be 37, Muncy will be 36, Teoscar Hernández and Mookie Betts both 34, Ohtani 32, and Will Smith and Edman 31. Most of them have nursed injuries over the past couple of seasons. Keeping them healthy and fresh for the long haul next year could require some more strategic load management — and insurance from a wide range of other options in the organization (plus whoever they add this offseason) to provide steady depth.

“I feel like our guys take really good care of themselves, so they might not be quite the same aging curve as everyone just with their level of hunger and their commitment in the offseason,” Gomes said. “But I think there’s the give and take of … making sure we maintain a good group of young guys that are ready to come up and fill holes when necessary. [It’s] also balancing, as we get into the season, are we making sure we’re having conversations with our guys of, ‘Maybe a day [off] here and there isn’t the worst thing,’ and trying to work those in more.”

It all underscores the difficult road ahead for the Dodgers in their push for three straight titles: inevitable speed bumps that will only further complicate their quest.

“It’s a balancing act,” Gomes said.

One that the team is already factoring in as the winter progresses.