The Los Angeles Dodgers are in a waiting period with just two weeks before the MLB Trade Deadline. 

Coming off their first road trip following the All-Star break against the New York Yankees — which featured a split doubleheader on Sunday — came the unfortunate news of Shohei Ohtani. 

Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts announced that Ohtani would be scratched from his next slated start against the Philadelphia Phillies, but would be seeing time off the mound "for some time." 

Though he is not completely shut down, and the Dodgers left the door open for his return to the bump, this adds yet another layer of exasperating obstacles to maneuver. 

The list of Dodgers making their way back to the team seems to grow every minute. Recently, Blake Snell made his first rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets this past Saturday, Edwin Díaz made his third appearance out of the bullpen for Single-A Ontario Tower Buzzers, and Kiké Hernández has been making starts at third base for the Comets. 

If all goes right, Díaz and Hernández could return to the team around the same time after July 28. Snell would need to record five innings (or 75 pitches) before being activated. 

Will Smith, who has been out for the past six weeks with an inflamed disc in his neck, was shut down from baseball activities for yet another week. The Dodgers and Roberts are betting that another week off for Smith could maximize his recovery time in hopes of returning in August.

But if another setback is in the midst, do the Dodgers tackle the market for a catcher?

According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, the Dodgers will not tinker in the market for a catcher this trade deadline and will continue to stick with Dalton Rushing as their primary backstop. 

Along with that, Ohtani's absence from the mound for the foreseeable future has not nudged the Dodgers towards making a significant splash for a starter—Two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. 

Skubal and the Dodgers have been tied up in negotiations since last year's deadline, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman will stick to their intended plan for this year's deadline: to maximize their depth in their farm system. 

Friedman would rather stick to acquiring Skubal in the offseason rather than go all-in for the remainder of the season. On the other end, the Dodgers are comfortable molding their rotation to what seems fit, and, depending on the condition of Snell and Tyler Glasnow, trading left-hander Eric Lauer is in the realm of possibilities, according to Woo. 

Still, all circumstances aside, the Dodgers have positioned themselves for multiple paths that they could walk through as the next two weeks' buildup.

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