The Dodgers announced they’ve designated reliever Heath Hembree for assignment. The move clears active and 40-man roster space for Tommy Kahnle, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
Hembree signed a minor league deal with L.A. this summer after being let go by the Pirates. He made the big league roster a couple weeks back and went on to make six appearances as a Dodger. Hembree was hit hard, surrendering six runs (five earned) on nine hits and three walks while fanning five. It was the continuation of early-season struggles in Pittsburgh, where he was tagged for a 7.16 ERA with more walks than strikeouts through 16 1/3 innings.
The 33-year-old will hit the waiver wire in the next few days. He has more than enough service time to refuse an outright assignment, so it’s likely he’ll return to the open market if he passes through waivers unclaimed. Hembree is playing this season on a $2.125MM salary after signing with the Pirates during Spring Training. Pittsburgh remains on the hook for the majority of that sum, with the Dodgers only paying him the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum for the few weeks he spent on their roster.
Kahnle is back for the first time in nearly four months. The right-hander landed on the injured list in May due to inflammation in his throwing arm. That came on the heels of 2020-21 seasons almost completely lost to arm issues, including Tommy John surgery. Since the conclusion of the 2019 season, Kahnle has pitched in only five MLB games — one with the Yankees in 2020 and four with Los Angeles this May.
On the bright side, Kahnle averaged a solid 95.3 MPH on his heater and was generating plenty of whiffs on his changeup during his brief look earlier in the year. He’d been an excellent high-leverage arm at times during his stint in the Bronx, making him an intriguing option for manager Dave Roberts as the Dodgers turn their attention to the postseason. Kahnle worked seven innings of three-run ball on a rehab stint with Triple-A Oklahoma City, striking out seven against a pair of free passes.
Gonna get a three week “runway” to see if he can establish any of his previous dominance. If he does, this will be a nice, solid back-end bullpen piece for the playoffs.
Didn’t expect much from Hembree except that his stay would be brief. Fortunately it was.
The Giants are already calling Hembree’s agent.
We need The Cat Man back!
It’s slow going with him. Nagging soreness.
Ultimate word being **nagging** indeed.
I’m going to call Chipotle to see if they will offer me a 2 year contract where I don’t work the first year because I’m rehabbing my guacamole scooping arm.
Kanhle is underrated. Will be a big plus for the Dodgers’ bullpen down the stretch come play off time. Was great with the Yankees
Liked him and Chad Green a lot as well but after a 2 year hiatus he can’t be considered anything but a roll of the dice today
Man I love Chad green. A shame that he went down with injury. I was at a Yankee game (Labor Day) and saw fans wearing the normal jerseys and then a young man was wearing a Green one. Instantly in my heart a legend.
Maybe, if he can knock off two years worth of rust and work around his history of control issues, all in the next couple of weeks. Getting Treinen back up to speed and keeping Kimbrel on the path he’s been on for the last month, are more important to the Dodger pen.
Kanhle will be a big plus… if he stays healthy. Huge “if.”
Does he still get a ring? missed the party last night…that suxs!