Gavin Stone deserves his chance now.... not later

The 24-year-old has dominated this spring

“I think it’s a certainty we’re going to see him at some point this year.”

That’s what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said in regards to Gavin Stone following his most recent outing. In case you missed the game…. well, you missed quite the performance.

Stone made his fourth and final appearance of the spring on Sunday. He saved his best for last.

The 24-year-old tossed three scoreless innings. It was his fourth consecutive scoreless outing of the spring. At three innings, it was also his longest. Of the nine outs Stone recorded, eight came via the strikeout. It was pure dominance.

MLB Pipeline @MLBPipeline

Fifth-ranked @Dodgers prospect Gavin Stone was a K machine in his three innings of work:

That scoreless outing capped off a pretty remarkable spring for the young right-hander. In four games this spring, Stone posted a 0.00 ERA in 6.2 innings. He struck out 14 and issued only two walks.

On Tuesday, Stone was assigned to minor league camp, meaning that’s all we’ll see of him this spring. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Stone isn’t on the 40-man roster and wasn’t expected to crack the Opening Day roster.

As Roberts said earlier, we’ll see him at some point in 2023. I’m sure there will be an injury or two that will open up a spot in the rotation, allowing Stone to see a start or two at the big league level.

The Dodgers shouldn’t wait for that to happen. Gavin Stone should be in the starting rotation to begin the season… and it’s a pretty easy decision.