Dodgers option Ryan, Hurt to Triple-A as Opening Day pitching staff crystalizes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After two spring cuts, the Dodgers' season-opening pitching staff has all but taken shape.

Los Angeles optioned right-handers River Ryan and Kyle Hurt to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. After the moves, the Dodgers have only 14 full-time pitchers in big league camp who are both healthy and on the 40-man roster, so the Opening Day rotation and bullpen are essentially set:

Rotation: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan/Justin Wrobleski

Bullpen: Edwin Díaz, Tanner Scott, Alex Vesia, Blake Treinen, Jack Dreyer, Will Klein, Edgardo Henriquez, Ben Casparius and Sheehan/Wrobleski

The odd man out of those healthy, rostered pitchers in camp would appear to be right-hander Landon Knack, who should start the season as rotation depth in Oklahoma City.

Both Ryan (LAD No. 6 prospect) and Hurt (No. 24 prospect) are coming off Tommy John surgery, which factored into the decision to have them begin the season in Triple-A. Ryan posted a 1.86 ERA in 9 2/3 innings this spring, while Hurt recorded a 3.68 ERA across 7 1/3 innings.

The Dodgers announced that they had optioned Hurt before Wednesday's heat-shortened 5-1 win over the Giants at Camelback Ranch, and the team's reasoning meant that the writing was on the wall for Ryan, who was optioned afterward. Hurt completed a Minor League rehab assignment at the end of last year, while Ryan was pitching in his first games since surgery this spring.

If the Dodgers were going to be mindful of how they built up Hurt, a reliever, then there was no world in which they wouldn't take the same path with Ryan, a starter.

"To get him to get a foundation this year -- be able to go back-to-back, pitch two innings in a night, then see how he is on the third day to go out and pitch, and see how he responds," manager Dave Roberts said of Hurt. "Those are things that are just kind of getting some tread, some wear on his tires, for an analogy. … That’s the next part of his development, and he completely understood."

The main pitching question that remains for the Dodgers is how they utilize Sheehan and Wrobleski. L.A. can begin the season with a five-man rotation due to its early off-days, but the team will eventually use a six-man rotation in order to give its pitchers additional rest. Both Sheehan and Wrobleski have experience with starting and long relief, so their usage could be hybrid to begin the season.

Sheehan has been a mixed bag through two spring starts (4.50 ERA with six strikeouts, four walks and five hits), while Wrobleski's overall numbers are skewed after a tough last outing compared to his first three (5.40 ERA with seven strikeouts, two walks and seven hits). They will likely get another outing apiece before Opening Day, so perhaps the Dodgers' final decision will come down to those final spring appearances.