Gavin Stone’s growth, maturity have come when Dodgers needed them most

For young players, there’s a big difference between getting to the big leagues and staying in the big leagues. Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Gavin Stone found that out the hard way.

Coming off a year in which he was the Dodgers’ 2022 Minor League Player of the Year, Stone went into 2023 on a high, putting himself on L.A.’s radar to make a positive impact on the big-league roster.

But things did not continue on an upward trajectory for Stone in his first taste of the big leagues. Not even close. Stone struggled mightily, allowing at least four earned runs in four of his eight appearances last season.

“Dealing with failure is always a tough time,” he told Yahoo Sports. “How you come out of it — I feel like that’s when your character shows.”

This season, the Dodgers have seen a different version of Stone than the one who got a cup of coffee in the big leagues last year. L.A.’s rookie has been a key part of the Dodgers’ rotation, which has not had much stability in production or health this season. After a strong first half, Stone is 9-5 with a 3.63 ERA, and he’s determined to show that he’s in the big leagues to stay.

One of the biggest areas that improved for the Dodger was his ability to not let things snowball and limit damage during starts. Throughout his first stint in the big leagues, innings had a tendency to get out of hand, with one-run innings turning into three- or four-run onslaughts.

Stone acknowledged that he didn’t want to hide from his failure in 2023 and knew that if there weren’t big changes, he’d be back and forth from L.A. to Triple-A this season.

“I knew I had a lot of work to do, and so just taking that mindset of, ‘I’m behind right now. I have a lot that I need to improve on,’ and taking that into the offseason really helped,” Stone said. “And seeing success is a big thing. And so seeing success early this year was huge, just helping me calm down and get settled in and finding that consistency mentally.”

Also, a tweak to his arsenal, including an increase in his slider usage, has allowed Stone to keep hitters off-balance with his four-seam fastball and strong changeup.

Heading into this season, Stone wasn’t expected to be as important a part of the Dodgers’ rotation as he has become. After the team signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto and traded for Tyler Glasnow, the top of the rotation was supposed to be solidified. But as baseball often reminds us, nothing, including health, is guaranteed. As it turns out, the 25-year-old Stone has filled the void while Yamamoto, Glasnow, Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw have spent time on the injured list.

The growth he has made in his mental approach to the game has been noticed by his manager.

“It’s been one of the highlights of the season,” Dave Roberts said. “Gavin has done a remarkable job of having blinders on and doing his job. He listens to the right people. He watches the right things. And then he’s made it his own. He really has.

“Young players typically look for … I call it ‘doors’ in the sense that you’re always looking for approval and acceptance. And I’m just really impressed with how he’s carried himself, even on top of the performance, and every time he takes the mound, I feel very confident that we’re gonna win the ballgame.”

The opportunity to pitch at Dodger Stadium isn’t one that Stone takes for granted. The mound he pitches from every fifth day is the same one where names such as Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela, Sandy Kofax and Kershaw became legends. There’s a high bar for pitchers in L.A., and for Stone, the goal now is to do anything he can to stay there.

“It’s where you want to be,” he said. “To be in an organization where it’s not just the goal [to win the World Series], but it’s demanded. And if you don’t meet those expectations, then it’s basically a lost season. And that’s what I love about being in this organization. They want to win.

“And that’s what I want to do.”