The Dodgers announced that they have claimed right-hander Nick Nastrini off waivers from the Marlins. The latter club designated him for assignment earlier this week. Righty Noah Davis has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Nastrini, now 25, returns to his original organization. The Dodgers drafted him in the fourth round in 2021. After a few years in the minors, he was flipped to the White Sox as part of the 2023 deadline deal which brought Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to Los Angeles.
Since that deal, it’s been a challenging time for Nastrini. He made his major league debut last year but posted a 7.07 earned run average in 35 2/3 innings. He also logged 85 innings at the Triple-A level with a 5.29 ERA. Here in 2025, he had a 7.51 ERA through 44 1/3 Triple-A innings when the Sox tried to run him through waivers. The Marlins swooped in with a claim but then bumped him off the roster after just one Triple-A outing.
The Dodgers have taken the chance to reacquire their former prospect. Prior to being traded away, he had tossed 204 1/3 minor league innings with a 3.83 ERA. He struck out 33% of batters faced but also gave out walks at an 11.4% pace. Previously, the Dodgers were developing him as a starter. The White Sox moved him to the bullpen as he struggled this year. Time will tell whether the Dodgers still view him as a viable rotation candidate or if they want to have him continue in a relief role. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season.
Davis, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in the offseason. He was traded to the Dodgers just before Opening Day, presumably because he had some kind of upward mobility clause in that deal. Since then, he has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors. He has allowed 13 earned runs in his six big league innings. The Triple-A work has been much better, with a 3.94 ERA in 32 innings, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has struck out 27.5% of batters faced at that level with a 10.9% walk rate and 48.1% ground ball rate.
He has now been bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Dodgers could take as long as five days to explore trade talks. Davis has been previously outrighted in his career and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers this time. If a club does acquire him, he can be optioned for the rest of this year but will be out of options in 2026.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Wasnt nastrini on the top 100 lists not too long ago?
Yeah, Nastrini is a bust unfortunately barring a miracle. He’s barely a prospect rn.
A bust for two teams that are at the bottom for a reason.
He had success in the Dodgers Minor league system and immediately was bad for the White Sox and Marlins? The biggest challenge the Dodgers face with him is undoing whatever the White Sox changed.
Cue the Dodgers injured pitcher jokes.
No visit from Santa Claus here, this is “Nasty Nick!
He’s baaack
Outhouse to the penthouse in one season. White Sox waived him earlier in the year. Marlins claimed him. Marlins waive and now he is a Dodger.
The Dodgers are REALLY manipulating the IL for bodies and pulling this one off. They have 11 players on the IL.
They DFA’d a guy to add Nastrini. Not sure how you interpret that as IL manipulation.
They aren’t playing shorthanded for fun. Who is faking an injury?
Dodgers just have a bunch of Lambo pitchers. High performance but always breaking down and sitting in the shop….
The Mets have 16, the White Sox have 15, the D-Backs have 14, and the Astros have 11 players on the IL. Why are the Dodgers the exception, Goose?
IL manipulation. Faking injuries. Whatever it is the Dodgers are doing, you gotta wonder if it’s catching up to them. They’re in the middle of a six game losing streak.
Nothing is catching up to them, stop being dramatic.
It seems as if the Dodgers are playing with a double-secret 60 man roster, while everyone else gets only 40…
They are… if you don’t understand baseball and how it works and have a bias
Traded three players for Lynn & Kelly and have now gotten two of them back (because they didn’t turn out to be worth anything).
If you want to stop the Dodgers roster shuffling, claim their players when they go on waivers. If the waived players are wastes of space, what the Dodgers do is no different from any other team.