The Dodgers announced that they’ve designated outfielder Nick Buss for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Red Patterson, who will make his Major League debut and start the second game of today’s double-header against the Twins.
The 27-year-old Buss made a brief cameo with the big league club in 2013 but has spent the vast majority of his career in the minor leagues since being an eighth-round pick of the Dodgers back in 2008. Buss is a career .296/.358/.503 hitter in 157 games at the Triple-A level, though he’s never ranked among the organization’s top 30 prospects (per Baseball America).
Patterson, 26, has a 4.15 ERA through his first four starts this season but excelled at Triple-A as a 25-year-old in 2013, posting a 3.03 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 107 innings (he split the season between the rotation and bullpen). Patterson will be the 26th man on the roster for today’s twin bill and likely head back to the minor leagues following his start.
Let the cutting of the fringe players of April begin
21 SBs, 100 RBIs, .888 OPS at Triple A, last year. Impressive.
Too bad there wasn’t room to work him in, due to the backlog of OFers Dodgers have. Then again those are PCL stats. Maybe they’re just inflated as Jerry Sands’s were.
Same old tune, eh? Buss has “career minor leaguer” written all over him. There was never any compelling reason to work him into anything beyond Triple-A.
If I were Red Patterson, I’d be worried about today. A one-day promotion to plug a gap at the long end of a double-header means he’s basically cannon fodder. They’ll keep him in for six no matter how it goes, then send him back to ABQ, probably to never been seen again.
Might be a great pickup for the Twins or Cubs. Thoughts?