Grove and Gavin Stone will travel with the Dodgers on their season-opening trip to Korea, and both remain in contention to be the team's No. 5 starter, Fabian Ardaya of The Athleticreports.
Emmet Sheehan was originally in the running for the fifth-starter spot as well, but he'll open the season on the injured list due to a shoulder injury. Both Grove and Stone were excellent in their most recent Cactus League outings, with Grove tossing 3.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts Saturday and Stone following one day later with a scoreless four-inning, five-strikeout effort. However, Stone has had the better overall spring, yielding just one run over 9.2 frames with a 9:1 K:BB while Grove has given up six earned runs over eight innings with an 11:4 K:BB. With that in mind, Stone probably has the upper hand in the battle to be Los Angeles' fifth starter, though manager Dave Roberts said Monday that a decision on that role has not yet been made, per Ardaya.