The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t score a bunch of runs against the Chicago White Sox this week. Turns out, they didn’t need to. Especially with Gavin Stone on the bump on Wednesday.
Stone was nearly flawless in the series finale, leading the Dodgers to complete the series sweep against the rebuilding squad from Chicago’s South Side. He threw all nine innings, allowed four hits, and didn’t walk a batter.
It was the team’s first complete game shutout since Walker Buehler did so against Arizona back in April of 2022. To find the last time a rookie did so, you’d have to go back even further. Stone’s clean sheet was the first the team has seen from a first-year hurler since 2013.
Stone was wildly efficient in the outing, needing only 103 pitches to get through all nine. He didn’t have a particularly high whiff rate, but was able to utilize his sinker-slider-changeup combo to limit soft contact.
The start lowers Stone’s ERA on the year to 2.73 and brings his K rate up slightly to 7.08 K/9. His walk rate, meanwhile, falls to 2.53 per nine. That ERA narrowly edges Tyler Glasnow’s 2.88 mark as the team’s best.
Considering the Dodgers’ lack of rotational depth given recent injuries, the value of the stability that Stone continues to provide, even as a rookie, cannot be overstated.
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