The Dodgers are going to call up right-hander Julian Fernández, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The club will need to make corresponding moves to get the righty onto the active and 40-man rosters.
Fernández, 29, is a flame-throwing right-hander. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He has since thrown 28 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 4.08 earned run average in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has struck out 25.6% of batters faced and given out free passes at an 8% clip. He is strictly a fastball-changeup guy, with the heater averaging 96.9 miles per hour this year and the change at 85.1 mph.
Despite the intriguing stuff, he hasn’t been able to carve out a huge major league career yet. He did rack up two years of big league service time over 2018 and 2019, though that was due to being plucked in the Rule 5 draft and then requiring Tommy John surgery, spending that whole time on the injured list. He made six appearances for the Rockies in 2021, with a 10.80 ERA, which is the extent of his actual big league action thus far.
He was outrighted off Colorado’s roster in 2022 and finished that year with a 6.63 ERA in the minors. He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays in 2023 but posted a 10.61 ERA and was released before the end of May. He then spent 2024 in Mexico and put up an ERA of 1.82 there before landing his deal with the Dodgers for 2025.
Fernández has a couple of options remaining, so he can jump into the club’s ever-changing pitching mix and provide some roster flexibility. The Dodgers currently have 12 pitchers on the injured list and have been trying to improvise solutions as the body count has climbed. The upcoming All-Star break will give them a breather and they will presumably make some moves to shuffle things at the deadline. For now, they’ll add Fernández into the equation to see if he can get some big league hitters out.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images
The next Fernando Valenzuela!
Just give us the world series now!
As someone who is associated with sanitation and frequently dealing with the stench of trash, I’m sorry but this move is the right one to make. the signing of Jooboo Pasquale will ensure success in this franchise.
His name is Julian Fernandez? They signed the wrong player, i cant even believe this. Is he good?
Either way, the signing of Jello Pastrami will ensure success in this franchise.
@Jimmy Garbagebag,
Years ago, I knew a chap in London named James Rubbishsack. Any relation?
They need a 40 man roster move but will somehow find a way to not DFA the worst pitcher in baseball Noah Davis
Davis and Fernandez were both too bad to pitch for the Rockies, so what they are doing with a good team like the Dodgers is a mystery.
Dodgers, Brewers, Rays, etc find alot of value in fixing interesting pitchers that poorly run teams like the Rox, and Angels cant.
Not fair! Dodgers get all the players…
It was a really successful rule 5 draft pick. Fernandez got free Tommy John surgery and a year of service time out of it.