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No Structural Damage In Blake Snell’s Shoulder; Dodgers Hoping For Short-Term Absence

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April 8: An MRI confirmed that Snell is not facing any structural damage in his shoulder, per the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. His treatment will likely include an injection of some sort, but the team is hopeful the two-time Cy Young winner will only require a short-term absence.

April 6: The Dodgers have placed left-hander Blake Snell on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  The placement is retroactive to April 3.  Right-hander Matt Sauer was called up from Triple-A to take Snell’s spot on the active roster.

Despite allowing eight walks in nine innings of work this season, Snell emerged with a 2.00 ERA over his first two starts of the season.  It seems as if this shoulder issue developed in between Snell’s last outing on April 2 and a bullpen session today, as Jack Harris of the L.A. Times reports that Snell talked with GM Brandon Gomes and team trainer Thomas Albert in the aftermath of the bullpen.

This is the tenth visit to the injured list Snell has taken over his 10 MLB seasons, and today’s news continues his career-long theme of both health concerns and early-season issues.  Snell is somewhat infamously a slow starter, with a 3.95 ERA over 555 2/3 career innings prior to the All-Star break, and then a 2.32 ERA in 500 innings over the second halves of seasons.

These splits notwithstanding, there are few pitchers in the game better than Snell when he’s in top form, as evidenced by his two Cy Young Awards.  The 2024 campaign was another example of Snell’s hot-and-cold tendencies, as he signed with the Giants late in Spring Training and subsequently spent much of the first three months either injured or struggling, until the switch flipped and Snell posted a 1.23 ERA over his final 80 1/3 frames of the season.

Snell was encouraged enough by this spectacular finish to opt out of the final season (and $30MM) of his contract with the Giants, and that decision proved to be wise, as Los Angeles signed Snell to a five-year, $182MM free agent deal.  The contract is worth “only” around $160MM-$165MM in current value since $65MM of Snell’s salary is deferred, yet it still represented the big long-term payday that eluded Snell in his previous trip to free agency.

The fact that Snell has already gone on the IL will bring some fresh questions about the Dodgers’ investment, yet there isn’t any indication that Snell’s shoulder inflammation is anything serious.  It does leave the Dodgers in a bit of a tricky spot when it comes to filling Snell’s rotation spot, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are both only being used once per week, replicating the standard usage of a Japanese pitching rotation.  Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, and Bobby Miller are the likeliest candidates to receive a Triple-A call-up and at least one spot start in Snell’s place.

In the bigger picture, Tony Gonsolin is on a Triple-A rehab assignment, and Clayton Kershaw (toe/knee surgeries) and Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John surgery) are expected to be available later in the season.  Shohei Ohtani is also slowly ramping up his pitching workload in preparation of his mound debut in a Dodgers uniform, though it will still be at least a couple of months before Ohtani becomes available from a pitching perspective.  In theory, Los Angeles has enough pitching depth available or eventually available to withstand another injury-riddled year like 2024, though Snell’s injury underlines the difficulty the Dodgers face in trying to maintain and preserve a staff of so many pitchers with significant durability questions.

NL West Notes: Ohtani, Gomber, Birdsong

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The Dodgers have been taking things slowly with superstar Shohei Ohtani as he prepares for his return to pitching. After just over a month off from regular bullpen sessions, Ohtani resumed throwing last weekend and threw another bullpen session earlier today. As noted by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Ohtani threw 26 pitches, and for the first time this year he included his splitter in the bullpen session. This came after what Plunkett described as a “light” bullpen session on Thursday. While that’s a noticeable ramp-up in activity, it shouldn’t be mistaken for the Dodgers accelerating Ohtani’s timeline back to the big league mound.

According to Plunkett, manager Dave Roberts indicated that the club hopes to replicate something akin to the schedule Ohtani will have when he returns to the big league mound as a starter by having him throw off the mound twice a week: once with a lighter bullpen session on Thursday followed by a full session on Saturday. Despite the superstar now getting back on the mound somewhat regularly, Plunkett notes that there’s still a long way to go before he’ll be ready to pitch in a big league game for the Dodgers. He relays that, per Roberts, the next step for Ohtani would be to incorporate his entire arsenal into his bullpen sessions rather than exclusively fastballs and an occasional splitter.

It won’t be until Ohtani is using his full arsenal that facing live hitters in simulated games, which the Dodgers plan to use in lieu of a rehab assignment to get Ohtani up to game speed while still allowing him to continue serving as their everyday DH in the lineup, is on the table. He’ll surely need several of those outings before he’s ready to get into games, and Plunkett suggests that at this point a realistic timeline for Ohtani’s pitching debut with the Dodgers would be sometime in June “at the earliest.” In the meantime, the Dodgers are utilizing a rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin May. Both Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin could also return from the injured list before Ohtani is ready to pitch, giving the Dodgers a host of potential options for the rotation.

More from around the NL West…

  • Rockies southpaw Austin Gomber began the season on the injured list due to soreness in his left shoulder, and while he was sent out for a rehab assignment just after Opening Day with an eye towards returning after just the first couple of weeks of the season, he was scratched from his next rehab start due to shoulder inflammation. That paved the way for Colorado to promote Chase Dollander to the big leagues, and Thomas Harding of MLB.com spoke to Gomber in more detail about the situation today. According to Harding, Gomber wasn’t able to pitch at maximum effectiveness during his rehab start even after receiving an anti-inflammatory injection in his shoulder. As a result, Gomber noted that the plan now is for him to have a slower and “more traditional” rehab process. He won’t throw for another week while the inflammation calms down, and will likely not return to the mound for another two or three weeks after that.
  • While the Giants initially planned to use young right-hander Hayden Birdsong as a long reliever and piggyback starter after he lost out on the fifth starter job to Landen Roupp, it appears that may no longer be in the cards. As noted by Justice delos Santos of Mercury News, manager Bob Melvin told reporters today that the club is now treating Birdsong as a “true reliever” after his limited usage to begin the season. Birdsong has appeared just once in the Giants’ first week of games, making a two-inning appearance that saw him throw just 27 pitches.  With Birdsong no longer stretched out as a starter for the time being, Melvin suggested that a one-inning appearance for the righty could be on the table. Birdsong pitched exclusively as a starter in the majors last year, with a 4.75 ERA in 16 starts, and hadn’t made a relief appearance in the major or minor leagues at the Double-A level or higher at any point in his career prior to his 2025 debut.

Dodgers Place Freddie Freeman On Injured List

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April 4: Catcher Hunter Feduccia was recalled today as the corresponding move, per a club announcement.

April 3: The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed Freddie Freeman on the 10-day injured list with a right ankle sprain. The placement is retroactive to March 31, so Freeman will be eligible to return a week from today.

Freeman has not played since Saturday. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters that the star first baseman tweaked his ankle when he slipped in the shower (via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). Freeman played through an ankle sprain down the stretch and throughout last year’s playoff run. He had a monster World Series despite the injury but nevertheless required surgery in early December. That procedure didn’t prevent him from starting the season, but the recent shower slip will require at least another week of rest.

IL placements can be backdated by up to three days. That the Dodgers elected not to place Freeman on the IL right away suggests they didn’t consider this a significant injury. It was enough to send him for an extremely rare IL stint though. Freeman last went on the shelf in 2020 for a positive virus test. His most recent non-illness IL stay came back in 2017, when a fracture in his left wrist knocked him out for more than two months.

Enrique Hernández drew into the lineup at first base for the Dodgers’ series against the Braves. While he went a combined 1-11, the Dodgers swept Atlanta to move to 8-0. The four top teams in the NL West have all gotten out to excellent starts — the 7-0 Padres join the Dodgers as the only remaining undefeated clubs — but the Dodgers obviously have plenty of talent to weather what seems likely to be a short-term absence.

Los Angeles didn’t announce a corresponding roster move. They’re off today, so there wasn’t any urgency to fill the spot, but waiting until tomorrow to place Freeman on the IL would have pushed back his retroactive date by a day. They can recall another hitter leading up to their weekend series in Philadelphia.

Poll: Do Season-Opening Streaks Carry Extra Weight?

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MLB’s regular season is officially underway, and clubs are already in the thick of the race to the postseason. One of the biggest storylines of the season so far has surrounded three teams that have gone streaking to open the year. The Dodgers (8-0) and Padres (7-0) have both yet to lose a game, while the Braves (0-7) have yet to win after opening the season against those two clubs. Those streaks have led to all three clubs getting plenty of attention, particularly the Dodgers as they became the first team in MLB history to follow up a World Series championship by starting the next season with eight straight wins.

Perhaps even more focus has been placed on Atlanta, however, as the club was widely expected entering the season to be a top contender for not only the NL East, but also the World Series this year. Though the club finished second to the Phillies in a recent MLBTR poll about who would win the division this year, Atlanta received 32% of the vote, nearly double the third-place Mets’ 18% figure. The playoff odds at Fangraphs told an even rosier story, as the club was given a 93.2% chance to make the playoffs prior to the season beginning, as well as a 63.7% chance at winning the division and a 15.7% chance at a World Series championship that was second only to the Dodgers themselves.

The club’s 0-7 start has caused those odds to plummet, however, as Fangraphs now affords the Braves just a 70.5% chance at making the postseason, with a 32.6% chance at winning the division and a 9.1% chance to win the World Series. It’s a steep drop for just one week of games, and by contrast the Padres have seen their projected fortunes improve just as much, going from a 30.6% chance to make the postseason heading into Opening Day all the way up to a 54.4% chance entering play today. Even the pessimistic playoff odds the Braves are facing don’t hold a candle to the perception of many fans and media members, however. Much has been made of the fact that no team in baseball history has recovered from a 0-7 start to make the postseason, and that the 1980 Braves (81-80) and 1983 Astros (85-77) are the only clubs to even finish with a winning record.

With that being said, however, it must be noted that this only applies to teams that began the season with a 0-7 record. Plenty of teams have made the playoffs with seven-game losing streaks on their resumes, particularly in recent years as the postseason has begun to expand. Just last year, the Royals made the playoffs with two separate seven-game losing streaks to their names. The 2017 Dodgers infamously suffered a 1-16 stretch that included an 11-game losing streak before turning things around and making it to Game Seven of the World Series.

Of course, that’s not to say all of the sentiments surrounding these clubs are built on the biases that could surround a small-sample performance. The Dodgers were viewed around the league as the best team in baseball well before the 2025 season began, not only because they won the World Series last year but also because they aggressively improved the club by adding Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, and Roki Sasaki (among others) this winter. Meanwhile, concerns about Atlanta’s path into the postseason this year could be argued to have just as much to do with a deep group of potential playoff teams in the NL, the PED suspension of Jurickson Profar, and shoulder surgery for Reynaldo Lopez as they do the team’s actual record on the field.

It also can’t be entirely dismissed that some streaks have more impact on a club’s future competitiveness than others. Naturally, large swings in the standings are more likely to have a relative impact in the first half of the year than the second half, as they can factor into the decisions club executives make over the summer regarding whether to buy or sell at the trade deadline. That impacts the overall talent level of a club in a way that streaks such as the aforementioned strings of losses suffered by the 2017 Dodgers and 2024 Royals, all of which occurred after that season’s deadline, simply cannot replicate.

Where do MLBTR readers fall on this topic? Are the strings of wins the Dodgers and Padres are presently enjoying and the string of losses in Atlanta more meaningful than they would be if they occurred later in the season instead? Or does the fact that every game counts the same in the standings at the end of the season mean it’s no different than any other streak? Have your say in the poll below:

Do Streaks Matter More At The Start Of The Season?
No, every game counts the same. 66.35% (1,670 votes)
Yes, it's more impactful for a team to start the season on a streak than it is for one to happen later in the season. 33.65% (847 votes)
Total Votes: 2,517

Dodgers Acquire Esteury Ruiz

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The Athletics announced that they have traded outfielder Esteury Ruiz to the Dodgers for right-hander Carlos Duran. Prior to that official announcement, Alden González of ESPN reported that Ruiz was headed to the Dodgers. The outfielder was designated for assignment by the Athletics a few days ago. The Dodgers will option him to Triple-A. Right-hander Kyle Hurt has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Hurt required Tommy John surgery in July and won’t be an option until later in the season.

Ruiz, now 26, long been known for his wheels but has always had questions about his bat. He burst onto the major league scene with the A’s in 2023, topping the American League by stealing 67 bases. At the plate, he slashed .254/.309/.345 for a wRC+ of 85. Despite his speed, his glovework received mixed reviews. He was credited with two Outs Above Average but -20 Defensive Runs Saved.

The stolen bases weren’t enough to get buy-in from the A’s. They optioned him to the minors early in 2024. He was recalled but then suffered a strained left wrist which kept him on the IL for months. He also underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in September. He was in camp with the A’s this spring but was optioned in mid-March and bumped off the 40-man when they claimed left-hander Angel Perdomo off waivers this past weekend.

The minor league offense has been better in recent years. Dating back to the start of 2022, Ruiz has a line of .337/.444/.535 on the farm. However, most of that was in his breakout 2022 season. He was in the majors in 2023 and mostly hurt in 2024. His minor league production was more middling prior to that. He slashed a combined .247/.318/.391 from 2017 to 2021 across various minor league levels for a 97 wRC+.

It’s been up-and-down overall. His huge 2022 showing got him a lot of attention. The Padres traded him to the Brewers that year as part of the infamous Josh Hader deal. Milwaukee then flipped Ruiz to the A’s as part of the three-team Sean Murphy trade. The A’s clearly were making a big bet on Ruiz at that time but apparently soured on him after his middling offensive performance in 2023 and then injury-marred 2024.

For the Dodgers, they effectively had a 40-man roster spot open due to Hurt’s surgery. There’s little harm in bringing Ruiz aboard to see how he looks after last year’s injuries. Even if the bat doesn’t come around, he could perhaps prove to be useful as a pinch-running specialist. Any offensive developments would be a nice bonus.

Duran, 23, has been working as a starter in the minor leagues with some decent numbers but health concerns. Despite primarily working as a starter in the minors, he’s never topped 81 innings in a season.

In March of last year, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him the #22 prospect in the Dodgers’ system, noting that Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 and he also had some shoulder troubles on his track record. He returned to the mound last year and gradually built up to toss 53 1/3 innings across 19 starts. He had a 3.71 earned run average, 29.4% strikeout rate and 12.9% walk rate. He reached Triple-A in the process and will give the A’s some non-roster pitching depth at the upper levels.

Photo courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Imagn Images.

Shohei Ohtani Throws Bullpen Session, No Timeline Yet For Return To Pitching

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Shohei Ohtani threw all fastballs during a 20-pitch bullpen session prior to yesterday’s game, marking the first time that the three-time MVP had thrown off a mound since February 25.  While Ohtani has continued to throw off flat ground in the interim, the month-plus break between proper pitching sessions added to the question of when exactly Ohtani might resume pitching duties in the big leagues, as a few weeks ago Dodgers manager Dave Roberts seemingly backed off the initial plan to have Ohtani pitching at some point in May.

Speaking with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters yesterday, Roberts was still non-committal, saying “it’s going to be awhile” before Ohtani makes his pitching debut in a Dodgers uniform.

“I think you start with the natural progression of a bullpen,” Roberts said.  “You’ve got to kind of mix in different pitches to then face hitters again.  It’s a start.  I don’t have a timeline.  I don’t think anyone does.  We’re a ways away.”

It has now been more than 19 months since Ohtani last pitched in a Major League game, as he sustained a right UCL tear during a 1 1/3-inning start for the Angels on August 23, 2023.  The subsequent surgery that September meant that he wouldn’t be pitching during the 2024 campaign, though the normal timeline for UCL surgeries indicated that Ohtani would be ready to go for Opening Day 2025.  However, an unexpected roadblock emerged when Ohtani suffered a labrum tear in his non-throwing shoulder while trying to steal a base during the World Series, which led to an arthroscopic procedure on his left shoulder this past November.  This injury wasn’t seen as too great an impediment to Ohtani’s return to pitching, and obviously not to his role as the Dodgers’ DH, as Ohtani has been able to hit normally this season.

If Ohtani was only a pitcher, in all likelihood he would be pitching in the majors right now, as he would’ve been able to proceed on a regular rehab timeline.  But of course, nothing is normal when it comes to Ohtani and his unique status as a two-way superstar, as he and the Dodgers have balanced both his arm health along with his duties as a hitter.  For instance, he limited some throwing sessions last fall since Ohtani was naturally more focused on trying to help Los Angeles win a championship, and then the added wrinkle of his left labrum issue impacted his usual offseason prep.

Roberts said the month-long break from mound sessions was done in part to get Ohtani fully ramped up as a hitter for his team’s earlier start to the 2025 season, as the Dodgers and Cubs played two games in Japan on March 18-19 before the rest of the league kicked off action three days ago.  The manager also stressed again that “we still want him to pitch.  He wants to pitch.  I think he can handle it,” but also noted that the club has no reason or desire to rush Ohtani back to pitching.

“I think the question is how much do we need him right now and I think we’ve answered that,” Roberts said.  “His health is paramount, most important.  So whenever that time is and his buildup reaches its full maturation, he’ll pitch for us.”

L.A. has so many pitching options that the team is expected to move to a six-man rotation once some hurlers start returning from the injured list.  Beyond the starting five of Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Dustin May, the Dodgers will have even more than just a single sixth-starter option given how Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Emmet Sheehan, and Ohtani are all expected to be back at various points in the 2025 season.  It is wholly unlikely that Los Angeles will have all nine rotation candidates healthy at once, but in the event of a slight pitching surplus, it’s a sign of the team’s depth that having Ohtani pitch is almost a luxury, on top of what he can contribute at the plate.

Latest On Clayton Kershaw

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Clayton Kershaw underwent two surgeries last November, addressing both his left knee (a torn left meniscus) and his left big toe (a ruptured plantar plate).  It was known that Kershaw would begin the season on the 60-day injured list and thus be sidelined until late May, but the future Hall-of-Famer shared some updates on his recovery process with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and other reporters yesterday.

Today will mark the first time since last season that Kershaw has faced hitters, as he’ll take part in a live batting practice session prior to the Dodgers’ game with the Tigers.  This is the latest and most notable step in a slower ramp-up process that Kershaw said was like “going through spring training right now, basically.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but definitely getting there,” Kershaw said.  “I think overall it’s good progress.  I’m not going to be happy until I’m out on the mound.  But I think everybody – doctors and training staff – would say I’m doing what I need to be doing.”

Despite this positive view, there isn’t yet a set timeline in place for Kershaw’s return to the L.A. rotation, apart from the loose target date of the first day he is eligible to be activated off the 60-day IL.  Kershaw said the plan is to build to game action, with an eye towards being in at least a minor league rehab assignment by the time late May rolls around.

The recovery from toe surgery is the larger issue than the knee surgery, as Kershaw noted that his toe problem relates specifically to his ability to push off the rubber.  “There’s been only one or two baseball players that have had this surgery” as well, adding to the fluidity in the recovery process, even if there’s no reason yet why a late May activation wouldn’t be possible.

“It’s just kind of hard to guess when it heals compared to when you feel good enough to push off a mound.  Kind of the timeline I’ve said before is kind of what we’ve all decided on,” Kershaw said.

Kershaw signed a one-year deal worth $7.5MM in guaranteed money (with more than twice that amount available in incentives) to return for what will be his 18th season both in the majors and with the Dodgers.  He spent last winter also recovering from back surgery, and between that rehab process and then the toe issues that surfaced later in the year, Kershaw played only a limited role in the Dodgers’ championship season.  The southpaw posted a 4.50 ERA over a career-low 30 innings, and didn’t see any action in the playoffs.

Los Angeles will eventually be adopting a six-man rotation once its injured starters get healthy, though the sheer number of arms on the roster could make for quite a logjam if everyone is available.  Beyond Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani is also expected to make his return to the mound this season, even if Ohtani’s pitching ramp-up is something of a mystery at this point, even as he continues to slug away as the Dodgers’ designated hitter.  Tony Gonsolin is another rotation candidate on the mend, and he threw his own live BP session on Friday.

Gonsolin had a Tommy John surgery in late August 2023, and he missed all of last season despite some faint hopes that he might’ve been able to get back to action at the very end of September.  This seemingly paved the way for Gonsolin to be fully ready to go for this season’s opener, but he was shelved again on the 15-day IL when he hurt his back while lifting weights this spring.

“I felt like my body was feeling great….And then to have something like that non-baseball-related [injury] really sucked, honestly,” Gonsolin told Plunkett.  “I don’t really have any other words for it.  But again, it’s a minor setback, and I’ll try to take this time to build back up and get into an even better position.”

Dodgers Notes: Kopech, Hernandez, Betts

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With the Dodgers set to participate in their second Opening Day of the year after sweeping the Cubs out of Tokyo earlier this month, the club provided a handful of health updates prior to today’s game. That includes an update that right-hander Michael Kopech provided to reporters, including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, regarding the right shoulder impingement that he was placed on the injured list with prior to the Tokyo Series.

According to Kopech, he wasn’t suffering from a specific shoulder injury this spring but instead that he ramped up too quickly early in camp as his forearm was ready for a heavier workload than his shoulder at the start of Spring Training. That issue has been resolved, however, and while a stomach bug slowed him earlier this month he’s now feeling good and has begun to ramp up. In terms of her overall arm health, Kopech even went as far as to indicate to reporters that his arm is feeling better than it was last season.

The right-hander famously pitched to a sterling 1.13 ERA with a 2.54 FIP in 24 innings of work down the stretch while striking out 33% of his opponents after being traded from the White Sox to the Dodgers, and if he can put up numbers even close to that this year that should be a huge boost to a Dodgers bullpen that already features talented arms like Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Alex Vesia. He’ll have to get back on the mound first before he can match those big expectations, but that seems likely to come at some point in April.

Kopech isn’t the only one who’s been dealing with illness lately in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Utilityman Enrique Hernandez is expected to miss the season opener today and may not even be present in the ballpark, as relayed by ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. Gonzalez notes that Hernandez has been struggling to keep food down due to the illness, and manager Dave Roberts added that his hope is that Hernandez’s illness is not the same was the one that kept Mookie Betts out of the Tokyo Series. Betts lost more than 15 pounds due to the sickness and was sent back to the U.S. ahead of the rest of the club to recover.

If Hernandez proves to be that level of ill, a stay on the injured list can’t be entirely ruled out though he remains day-to-day for the time being. He figures to be a fixture of the club’s lineup against left-handed pitchers, though the presence of options like Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas should help to fill the void created by Hernandez’s absence if he needs a few days off. A trip to the injured list, meanwhile, could open the door for James Outman to return to the majors or, perhaps, for Hyeseong Kim to make his big league debut after being optioned to the minors to start the season.

Speaking of Betts, the superstar is back in the Dodgers’ starting lineup today after missing the Tokyo Series. As noted by MLB.com’s Andres Soto, Betts remains day-to-day after dropping down to just 157 pounds due to the illness, but he’s started to put that weight back on and strength tests have indicated he’s back to normal. Obviously, the return of Betts to the lineup should be a huge catalyst for the Dodgers, who had to go without two of their three MVP hitters during the Tokyo Series but figure to have a lineup that’s more or less back to full strength going forward. If Betts does need a day off here or there, Rojas and Tommy Edman are both capable of handling shortstop in his stead.

Dodgers Acquire Noah Davis From Red Sox

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve acquired righty Noah Davis from the Red Sox in exchange for cash. He’ll go onto the team’s 40-man roster and be optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles placed righty Emmet Sheehan, who’s recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Davis had been a non-roster player with Boston after signing a minor league deal. It seems likely that he had an upward mobility clause in his deal, which if exercised requires his current club to make him available to all 29 other teams and let him go if another team is willing to put him on the 40-man roster.

Davis, 28 next month, is a former 11th-round pick by the Reds who’s spent the bulk of his career in the Rockies organization. Cincinnati traded him to Colorado in 2021’s Mychal Givens swap. He’s pitched in three MLB seasons with the Rox, logging a grisly 7.71 earned run average in 51 1/3 innings. Davis has fanned 17.3% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate. Both are worse than the league average (the strikeout rate in particular).

Despite the shaky track record, Davis has held his own (relatively speaking) in an intensely hitter-friendly environment with the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s Albuquerque Isotopes (the Rockies’ top affiliate). His 5.06 ERA in 133 1/3 innings there doesn’t look like much, but he ranks 19th in the PCL in ERA over the past three seasons (among pitchers with 130+ innings). Only four pitchers in that span have kept an ERA under 4.00 in as many innings.

Davis had a decent spring. He allowed five runs in 9 1/3 frames, which isn’t great, but did so while yielding only seven hits and recording a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’ll give the Dodgers some rotation depth at a time when Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, River Ryan, Tony Gonsolin and Kyle Hurt are all on the injured list.

David Bote Exercises Upward Mobility Clause In Dodgers Deal

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Dodgers non-roster invitee David Bote triggered an upward mobility clause in his minor league contract yesterday, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. That clause forces the Dodgers to make the veteran infielder available to all 29 other teams and let him go if another club is willing to put him on its 40-man roster. Los Angeles would be able to counter by instead selecting Bote to its own 40-man. If no team wants to scoop Bote up and place him on the 40-man, he’ll likely head to Triple-A Oklahoma City to begin the season with the Dodgers’ top affiliate.

Bote, 31, had a monster spring performance, hitting .400/.471/.700 with a pair of homers in 34 plate appearances. He also enjoyed productive looks in the majors and in Triple-A with the Cubs last year. Bote slashed .259/.341/.546 (124 wRC+) in 123 plate appearances with Triple-A Iowa and hit .304/.333/.391 in a smaller sample of 48 big league plate appearances. He’s a career .234/.318/.392 hitter in 1213 plate appearances at the MLB level, dating back to 2018.

Originally an 18th-round pick by Chicago back in 2012, Bote debuted in 2018 and looked to have carved out a utility role on the Cubs’ bench in 2019, when he logged what’s still a career-high 356 plate appearances and hit .257/.362/.422. He signed a surprising extension with the Cubs that April, locking him in for five years and $15.0025MM and giving Chicago a pair of club options. The deal bought out all of Bote’s arb seasons, and the options covered his first two free agent seasons.

The deal went south quickly. Bote hit poorly in 2020-21, and he was passed through outright waivers in 2022. Bote didn’t have the service time to reject an outright assignment and retain the remainder of his guarantee, so he headed to Iowa and was used as an up-and-down bench player over the next couple seasons.

Even with the rocky track record, Bote has hit well in small samples during his most recent MLB looks (.272/.320/.420 in 175 plate appearances since ’22 — albeit with a 33% strikeout rate). He’s been a perennially productive hitter in Triple-A as well, and he has at least 400 career innings at all four infield spots and in the outfield (primarily the corners). Teams looking for a right-handed bat with some versatility could consider him for a bench spot. He technically still has a minor league option remaining, but he’s four days from reaching five years of service, at which point he’d have to consent to being optioned.

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