Dodgers, Nick Ahmed Agree To Major League Deal
The Dodgers are signing shortstop Nick Ahmed to a big league deal and placing Miguel Rojas on the injured list, tweets Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic. David Vassegh of 570 Sports first noted (on X) that Ahmed was with the team. The veteran infielder is an Excel Sports Management client.
Ahmed continues his tour of the National League West. The longtime Diamondback signed a minor league deal with the Giants over the winter. He made the Opening Day roster and appeared in 52 games with San Francisco. Ahmed struggled to a .232/.278/.303 batting line over 172 trips to the plate and was released two weeks ago. He lingered on the open market before landing an immediate big league opportunity because of the Dodgers’ injury situation in the middle infield. Ahmed will only make the prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary for whatever time he spends on the L.A. roster. The Giants are still on the hook for the rest of his salary.
Los Angeles has been without Mookie Betts for more than five weeks. Betts was amidst another MVP-caliber season in his first year as an everyday shortstop before he broke his hand on a hit-by-pitch. That pushed Rojas from a glove-first utility role back into regular work at shortstop. He hasn’t provided much offensively, hitting .241/.282/.329 across 86 trips to the plate since the Betts injury. The Dodgers were mostly hoping he’d keep things afloat on defense, and Rojas has indeed posted above-average marks with the glove.
The Dodgers will rely on Ahmed to play a similar role. Rojas went down over the weekend with forearm tightness and hasn’t played since Sunday. Los Angeles was using Enrique Hernández as their fill-in shortstop, but he’s better suited for work at second or third base and around the outfield. While the Dodgers won’t expect much at the plate from Ahmed, he’s a two-time Gold Glove winner who remains a solid or better defensive shortstop.
Ahmed figures to play everyday until Rojas or Betts comes back. He starts tonight against his old Giants teammates and will take on Robbie Ray in the lefty’s season debut, tweets Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The Dodgers could theoretically look for middle infield help before next Tuesday’s deadline, although that hasn’t seemed to be a priority thus far. Betts is expected back sometime next month and should take shortstop back over headed into the postseason. The Dodgers seem more concerned with landing impact talent who could aid them in October rather than expending prospect capital for lower-ceiling players to bridge the gap in the regular season.
The Dodgers have a full 40-man roster, but they’re reportedly going to designate right-hander Ricky Vanasco for assignment. That was expected to be the corresponding move for Clayton Kershaw returning from the 60-day injured list tomorrow. The Dodgers could DFA Vanasco today and clear space for Kershaw tomorrow. Righty Kyle Hurt is undergoing Tommy John surgery and could be transferred to the 60-day injured list if the Dodgers don’t want to expose anyone to waivers.
Dodgers’ Kyle Hurt To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
The Dodgers’ litany of pitching injuries continues to mount. Right-hander Kyle Hurt is slated to undergo Tommy John surgery, reports Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation. Tommy John surgery typically comes with a recovery timeline of 12 to 16 months, so Hurt will be sidelined until late in the 2025 season at least — and possibly into the 2026 campaign.
Hurt, 26, came to the Dodgers from the Marlins alongside lefty Alex Vesia in a trade sending righty Dylan Floro to Miami. The 2020 fifth-rounder quickly climbed the organization’s prospect rankings, entering the ’24 campaign as L.A.’s No. 11 prospect at Baseball America and No. 7 over at FanGraphs.
Though he pitched in the majors last season and briefly earlier in 2024, Hurt has totaled only 8 2/3 innings at the MLB level. He’s yielded only one run with a 6-to-1 K/BB ratio in that time. Hurt has spent the rest of the 2024 season in Triple-A Oklahoma City — mostly on the minor league injured list. He missed two months early this season due to inflammation in his shoulder, came back as a reliever in early June, and was placed back on the injured list a month later. This latest trip to the IL, it seems, will last quite a bit longer.
Hurt has spent time on the injured list both in 2022 and now in 2024. He’s a clearly talented arm but has also yet to reach 100 innings in a professional season. The right-hander tossed 92 frames of 3.91 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A last season (plus two shutout MLB innings), and as Baseball America points out, he led all minor leaguers (min. 90 innings) with a colossal 39.2% strikeout rate. Hurt’s heater sits mid-90s and touches the upper 90s, and his changeup draws plus grades on the 20-80 scale — with FanGr.aphs going so far as to grade it as a true 80 offering.
BA’s scouting report on Hurt cited durability as a concern even before the current season. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen w0rote in March that Hurt comes with “a lot of relief risk” but had a chance to work as a five-inning starter. Even if that’s not the case, Hurt profiles as a potential high-end reliever given his velocity — which would presumably tick up in one-inning stints — the quality of his changeup and the ease with which he misses bats.
All of that will be put on hold for the time being, but Hurt will have multiple option years remaining beyond the current season. He’ll turn 27 next May, so he’ll be on the older side for a “prospect” by the time he returns in late 2025 or early 2026, but the quality of his arsenal is tantalizing enough that the Dodgers (or perhaps another club) will keep carrying him on the 40-man roster with an eye toward the benefit that can be reaped in the future.
Dodgers To Designate Ricky Vanasco For Assignment
The Dodgers are going to designate right-hander Ricky Vanasco for assignment, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic on X. That move will open a 40-man roster spot for left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who will be coming off the 60-day injured list this week.
Vanasco, 25, has spent most of the season on optional assignment. He has only thrown two innings at the major league level this year, which were the first two innings of his big league career. He has tossed 23 1/3 innings over 24 Triple-A appearances, allowing 3.47 earned runs per nine. His 24.3% strikeout rate is strong but he has also given out free passes at a huge 18.9% rate. If it weren’t for a 78.5% strand rate, more runs would have crossed the plate, which is why his 5.51 FIP is more than two runs higher than his ERA.
Those control issues undoubtedly contributed to nudging him off the Dodgers’ roster and the club will now have a week to either trade him or pass him through waivers. Once a notable prospect in the Rangers’ system, health issues held him back in recent years. He underwent Tommy John surgery in September of 2020 and missed the entire 2021 season. Despite missing that entire campaign, the Rangers evidently were worried some other club would take him in that year’s Rule 5 draft, so they gave him a 40-man spot.
He showed some rust in his first year back from the surgery layoff, posting a 4.68 ERA in 92 1/3 minor league innings. His 28.9% strikeout rate was strong but he gave out free passes to 12.7% of batters faced. He then required knee surgery in March of last year and missed the start of that season. The Rangers designated him for assignment in May and he was flipped to the Dodgers a few days later.
His stint with his new club went very well, even though he was outrighted off the 40-man roster, as he tossed 30 innings at various levels with a 1.20 ERA and 35% strikeout rate. Perhaps most importantly, he dropped his walk rate down to 8.1%. The Dodgers re-signed him to a major league deal in November but, as mentioned, his control issues have come back this year.
Perhaps some club will be intrigued based on his former prospect status and his ability to strike out minor league hitters. He is in his final option season and can be sent down to the farm for the remainder of this year, though he will be out of options next year.
Dodgers Interested In Randy Arozarena
The Dodgers have made clear they’re looking to make a splash at the top of the trade market. Most of the focus has been on the pitching side — general manager Brandon Gomes said just last night the front office is seeking “an impact-type arm” — and it seems they’re taking a similar approach to the position players.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports that Los Angeles is seeking a significant offensive upgrade in the outfield. The Dodgers have already been tied to White Sox star Luis Robert Jr. Feinsand writes that Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena is also on L.A.’s radar. The Dodgers had been loosely linked to Arozarena over the offseason.
The fit is rather straightforward. Teoscar Hernández could handle right field if the Dodgers added an everyday player in left. Andy Pages could play center field regularly while Jason Heyward would move into a fourth outfield role. Each of Hernández, Arozarena and Pages hit from the right side, meaning Heyward should be able to rotate in against right-handed pitching fairly frequently to keep everyone fresh.
Arozarena started the season terribly. The former All-Star carried a .158/.257/.312 batting line into June. He has caught fire over the past couple months, raking at a .286/.392/.514 clip through his most recent 166 plate appearances. The dreadful spring is taking a toll on Arozarena’s season line, which sits at a pedestrian .211/.313/.395 mark. Considering he’d been a well above-average hitter over his first three and a half years in the big leagues, most teams will probably view his April/May performance as an anomaly.
That’s also true of the Rays, who are shaping up as one of the most interesting teams to watch over the next week. Tampa Bay isn’t out of playoff contention, but they’re sitting at .500 with a 5.5 game deficit in the Wild Card race. A playoff push this year is possible but unlikely. While the Rays aren’t going to orchestrate a complete teardown, they’ll likely consider offers on a host of productive veterans (e.g. Brandon Lowe, Zach Eflin, Zack Littell, Isaac Paredes, Pete Fairbanks). Whether to trade Arozarena is one of the biggest questions facing the front office.
The 29-year-old outfielder is playing on an $8.1MM salary, a little less than $3MM of which is yet to be paid. He’s set for two more arbitration raises before getting to free agency during the 2026-27 offseason. The Dodgers are in the highest tier of luxury tax penalization and face escalating penalties for exceeding the CBT threshold in at least three straight years. They’d owe a 110% tax on any contracts they absorb.
Red Sox Interested In James Paxton
The Red Sox head into the trade deadline looking to deepen their starting staff, and WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports that there’s a “strong likelihood” Boston will be in the mix for left-hander James Paxton, whom the Dodgers just designated for assignment yesterday. The Sox are quite familiar with Paxton, who spent the 2022-23 seasons in the organization.
Injuries prevented Paxton from taking the mound for the Sox in 2022 and led him to exercise a player option for the 2023 season. He bounced back with 19 starts and 96 innings — both his highest marks since 2019 in New York. Paxton’s 4.50 ERA wasn’t much to look at, though metrics like SIERA (4.11) and FIP (3.77) painted a friendlier picture. He fanned a sharp 24.6% of his opponents last season against a tidy 8% walk rate.
Things haven’t gone as well in a similar workload with the Dodgers. Although Paxton’s 18 starts, 89 1/3 innings and 4.43 ERA all generally mirror last year’s numbers with the Red Sox, the rest of his numbers are markedly worse. Paxton averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball last season, per Statcast, but is down to 93.2 mph on average in 2024. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 16.4%, while his walk rate has ballooned to 12.3%. Paxton is getting fewer whiffs, fewer grounders and yielding far more hard contact in 2024 than he did in 2023. The primary difference has been the lefty’s dip in home run rate (9.5% HR/FB, 1.11 HR/9) and a career-low .267 average on balls in play.
Even if Paxton’s K-BB and batted-ball profiles are diminished relative to his 2023 levels, he’s still been a perhaps surprisingly durable arm this year. He’s made all 18 starts asked of him and has yet to land on the injured list. He’d also be highly affordable from a financial standpoint. He’s playing the season on a one-year deal that came with a $4MM base salary, $2MM bonus for making the Opening Day roster and $3MM singing bonus. Paxton’s deal also allowed him to earn $4MM off incentives based on games started. The lump sum of that signing bonus, Opening Day bonus and all of his incentives have already been paid out. The Red Sox (or another new club) would only owe him the prorated remainder of that $4MM salary — about $1.48MM as of this writing.
The Red Sox currently have Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello in the rotation. Righties Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski have both made starts out of the fifth spot in the rotation. The Sox have lost Lucas Giolito, Garrett Whitlock and depth starter Chris Murphy to season-ending surgeries. Bryan Mata is on the injured list and just had a setback. Paxton would at least give the Sox a stabilizing force at the back of the rotation. (The Red Sox have also reportedly looked into the Cubs’ Jameson Taillon as an option.)
Gomes: Dodgers Seek “Impact” Rotation Arm
Starting pitching is known to be a Dodgers priority heading into next week’s trade deadline, and general manager Brandon Gomes didn’t shy away from that in speaking with the Dodgers’ beat last night. Gomes and manager Dave Roberts publicly discussed the “difficult” decision to designate James Paxton for assignment but acknowledged that with the slate of arms they have returning from the injured list (to say nothing of a potential trade acquisition), “now would be the best time to see if there’s interest” in Paxton before the deadline (link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). The Dodgers hope to trade Paxton, Ardaya reports, pointing out that a new team would only owe the lefty the prorated portion of his $4MM base salary; Paxton’s $3MM signing bonus, $2MM roster bonus and full slate of incentives have already been paid out.
On the team’s search for additional rotation help, Gomes made clear that the Dodgers aren’t prioritizing marginal upgrades or back-end innings eaters to help patch things over for the rest of the regular season. “Targeting starting pitching, but it’s going to be an impact-type arm,” Gomes said of his club’s approach to the trade deadline.
That’s a tall order, of course. The starting pitching market is generally thin. White Sox ace Garrett Crochet and Tigers righty Jack Flaherty are the two most impactful names expected to be widely available. High-profile targets like Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and, to a much lesser degree, the Cubs’ Justin Steele have at least been the subject of some speculation, but neither is expected to be traded by next Tuesday. As a rotation-hungry club with a deep stock of controllable young talent and high-end prospects, the Dodgers could put together a compelling offer to test the Tigers’ conviction on Skubal, but any such deal is a long shot and would face steep competition from the Orioles and other similarly positioned contenders.
[Related: Top 50 trade candidates for the 2024 MLB trade deadline]
ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez recently reported that Crochet sits atop the Dodgers’ deadline wish list. Given the lack of “impact” arms who can be controlled beyond the current season, that’s hardly a surprising development. Any team that acquires Crochet will have some trepidation about his workload — the lefty’s 107 1/3 innings this year exceed his combined career total since being drafted in 2020 — but there’s no denying his dominance. The former No. 11 overall pick sports a 3.02 ERA (2.35 FIP, 2.45 SIERA). His 35.2% strikeout rate is tops among the 164 pitchers who’ve tossed at least 50 innings this season. His 5.4% walk rate ranks 23rd among that same sub-set.
As evidenced by the Paxton DFA, the L.A. rotation is in a state of flux. The Dodgers are welcoming Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back from the injured list this week. Top prospect River Ryan made his MLB debut yesterday and tossed 5 1/3 shutout frames. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is on the injured list until at least mid-August but is still expected to pitch again this season. There’s hope that recently optioned Bobby Miller can return to form and that former top starter Walker Buehler can come back from the injured list and still contribute late in the season. Other young, less-proven options for the Dodgers include Gavin Stone, Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski. Stone, in particular, has emerged as a key arm with 18 starts of 3.19 ERA ball.
If everyone’s healthy, the Dodgers arguably already have a formidable playoff staff — but that’s a sizable “if.” Crochet would add more of a question mark to the bunch than a definitive ace, given his workload questions, but it’s also possible the Dodgers could utilize him as a multi-inning reliever late in the season or even get him some closing work. That’s speculative, to be clear, but manager Dave Roberts stopped short last night of referring to team saves leader Evan Phillips as his “closer,” Jack Harris of the L.A. Times tweets. Phillips has hit a rough stretch recently, yielding nine runs in his past 7 1/3 innings.
A pitcher like Crochet could be an “impact” arm in either a starting or relief role. He likely holds extra appeal to the Dodgers, given not only his two extra seasons of club control but his bottom-of-the-barrel $800K salary. RosterResource projects that the Dodgers already have $326MM worth of luxury obligations, placing them in the top tier of penalization. As a team paying the tax for a third consecutive season, they’re subject to a 110% overage fee on any new players acquired. Crochet will have about $258K of his salary yet to be paid out come deadline day; he’d only cost the Dodgers (or another maximum-penalty CBT team) about $542K in additional salary.
Dodgers Designate James Paxton For Assignment
3:40pm: The Dodgers made it official, announcing that they have selected Ryan and designated Paxton for assignment.
2:42pm: The Dodgers are designating veteran left-hander James Paxton for assignment, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The team has not yet formally announced the move.
Paxton, 35, signed with the Dodgers on a complicated one-year deal that pays him a $3MM signing bonus, a $4MM salary, a $2MM roster bonus for making the Opening Day squad and a series of $600K and $1MM bonuses that unlock periodically based on his number of games started. Paxton has made 18 starts this season, which was the last milestone he needed to max out his contract. He’ll receive the full $13MM possible on the deal but also seems likely to finish out the season with another club, one way or another.
It’ll be a move that catches some off guard. Paxton has a solid enough 4.43 ERA and despite a laundry list of injury troubles in recent years has been the Dodgers’ healthiest starter. He’s tied with Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone for the team lead with 18 starts but sits well below both righties in terms of total innings, as he’s averaged fewer than five frames per start.
Paxton’s earned run average also belies some far less-encouraging numbers. His 16.4% strikeout rate is nearly six percentage points shy of the 22.3% league average, while his 12.3% walk rate is way north of the 8.2% average. He’s benefited from the help of a .267 average on balls in play that stands as the lowest mark of his career despite surrendering a career-high 90.8 mph average exit velocity and a 43.3% hard-hit rate that represents the second-worst mark of his big league tenure. Paxton has been hit particularly hard of late; dating back to June 5, he carries a 6.03 ERA in 37 1/3 innings (eight starts). Stretch that endpoint to mid-May, and Paxton has been torched for a 5.82 ERA in his past 11 starts — all while averaging less than 4 2/3 frames per outing.
The Dodgers are set to welcome both Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back to their rotation this week. Glasnow has been out since July 9 with lower back tightness and will end up only requiring a minimum 15-day stint on the injured list. Kershaw has yet to pitch this season while rehabbing from last November’s shoulder surgery. That veteran pair will join Gavin Stone, Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski as starting options for manager Dave Roberts, though the Dodgers are also rumored to be promoting top pitching prospect River Ryan for his debut this week. Both Ryan and Kershaw will require the Dodgers to open 40-man spots, and it seems Paxton’s DFA will create one of those two vacancies.
Beyond Kershaw and Glasnow, the Dodgers hope to have Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto back from the injured list at some point next month. Right-hander Bobby Miller was just optioned amid some ongoing struggles but gives the team another rotation option. And, of course, starting pitching is reportedly one of the Dodgers’ top priorities heading into next week’s trade deadline. It’d be a surprise if president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman didn’t augment his rotation in some capacity.
As for Paxton, he’ll now either be released or traded within the next week. The veteran lefty has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and retain his full salary, so the Dodgers likely won’t even try to outright him. It’s easy enough to see a team on the hunt for rotation help show some interest, but at the same time it’ll be tough for any club to surrender much in a trade given Paxton’s recent struggles, his relatively notable salary and the fact that once he’s released, he’d be available for nothing more than the prorated league minimum.
Orioles, Dodgers Have Discussed Tarik Skubal With Tigers
The Orioles and Dodgers are “engaged in talks” with the Tigers regarding a trade for All-Star left-hander Tarik Skubal, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. This comes after a previous report from Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, which suggested that Baltimore and L.A. were interested in Skubal but did not confirm the Tigers were entertaining offers for the Cy Young contender.
Both the Orioles and Dodgers have already made it crystal clear they are seeking to add starting pitching ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. Before the All-Star break, Orioles GM Mike Elias expressed interest in adding a starter with multiple years of club control. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have reportedly already made an offer to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet, and Alden Gonzalez of ESPN suggests that adding “a front-of-the-rotation starter” remains their top priority. Crochet is still their number one target, per Gonzalez, though Skubal would be far more than just a consolation prize.
Baltimore and L.A. have been two of the top teams in the league this season, but both clubs have been hit hard by injuries to their starting rotations. The Orioles have lost Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells, and John Means for the season. Thus, their rotation has its fair share of question marks after Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez. Meanwhile, the Dodgers currently have names like Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, and Dustin May on the IL. Glasnow and Kershaw are set to return this week, but given their injury histories, L.A. could use another top-of-the-rotation arm for the playoffs. Skubal certainly fits the description.
While it is noteworthy that the Tigers are engaged in discussions about trading Skubal, president of baseball operations Scott Harris might just be doing his due diligence. In other words, the fact that these teams are talking does not mean Harris is seriously considering any offers. Indeed, several sources seem to think it is still highly doubtful Detroit will trade Skubal this season. According to Nightengale, Detroit will only move Skubal if the front office is “overwhelmed” by an offer. Gonzalez reports that sources familiar with the Tigers’ thinking believe a trade is unlikely. Verducci’s source offered similar information, though added that “everything has a price.” Evidently, the Dodgers and Orioles are trying to find the price that will convince Scott Harris to trade away his best player.
The Yankees might also be trying to find that price, as Nightengale reports they would be willing to part with top prospect Spencer Jones to land a young ace like Skubal or Crochet. Previously, Jones was thought to be all but untouchable, but the Yankees might be getting more desperate for upgrades. They have gone 10-20 over their last 30 games, falling out of first place in the AL East. Their starting rotation has a league-worst 6.02 ERA in that time.
Jones, a towering, power-hitting outfielder, is widely considered a top-100 prospect in the game. It’s easy to understand why the Yankees would be hesitant to trade him, but it’s equally clear why the Tigers would command a prospect of that caliber in a package for a 27-year-old ace with two and a half years of club control remaining.
Skubal claimed the final spot on MLBTR’s ranking of the top 50 trade candidates for the deadline. His low ranking has nothing to do with his talent but rather reflects how unlikely he is to be dealt. Still, there is a good reason he was included on the list at all. Several contenders are sure to make a push to acquire Skubal, and if he is dealt, it could be the biggest blockbuster of the summer.
Dodgers Notes: Yamamoto, Rojas, Graterol, Grove
In his first public comments to reporters since going on the injured list with a rotator cuff strain, right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto told reporters (including ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez) yesterday that he’s been playing catch as he works his way back toward the mound. He described pitching again this year as his “goal,” noting that he was trying to return as soon as possible. Though Yamamoto did not specify a specific timetable for his return, Gonzalez noted that the Dodgers are “hoping” their star rookie will be back on the mound for them in late August or early September.
At the time of Yamamoto’s injury, manager Dave Roberts suggested that it wasn’t expected to end his season, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that the 25-year-old hurler still hopes to pitch this year. Even so, any source of optimism regarding Yamamoto’s status is surely a welcome one for fans in L.A. given the number of rotation injuries they’ve suffered in recent weeks. Entering the All-Star break, the club was relying on a patchwork rotation of veteran southpaw James Paxton and rookies Gavin Stone, Landon Knack, and Justin Wrobleski. Although both Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw are expected to join the mix later this week, providing the club with a solid front four alongside Stone and Paxton, questions will remain about the club’s lacking rotation depth until either Yamamoto or Walker Buehler returns from the injured list, barring a trade in the days leading up to the deadline.
Even setting aside the Dodgers’ current rotation needs, getting Yamamoto back late in the season figures to provide a huge boost to the club as they look ahead towards the postseason. After all, the $325MM righty was generally regarded as the best pitcher available this winter despite his lack of MLB experience, and in 14 starts with the Dodgers prior to hitting the shelf he flashed that potential. In his 76 innings of work this year, Yamamoto sports an excellent 2.92 ERA (137 ERA+) with an even better 2.68 FIP thanks to a fantastic 27.9% strikeout rate against a measly 5.6% walk rate.
While the club received some positive news about Yamamoto this weekend, they also were dealt something of an injury scare today when veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas exited today’s game due to a bout of tightness in his right forearm. Fortunately, Rojas told reporters following the game (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that he believes the injury, which he suffered over the All-Star break while doing hitting drills, isn’t a particularly serious one. Roberts echoed that sentiment, noting to reporters (including Ardaya) that the club does not currently plan to send Rojas for an MRI, although he won’t play tomorrow and could ultimately be down for a few days due to the issue.
The loss of Rojas would’ve been a brutal blow for the Dodgers, a somewhat surprisingly reality considering his disappointing 2023 campaign. In 206 trips to the plate for the club this year, Rojas has slashed a respectable .272/.317/.408 that registers as 6% better than league average by wRC+. He’s combined that solid work at the plate with strong defense, initially at second base before sliding over to shortstop to take over for Mookie Betts after he went down with a fractured hand last month. Kiké Hernández took over for Rojas at shortstop after he exited tonight and figures to continuing getting reps at the position in Rojas’s absence, perhaps alongside Gavin Lux.
More positive injury news for Dodgers fans comes out of Triple-A Oklahoma City, where (as noted by OKC Broadcaster Alex Freedman) right-handers Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove have both been assigned to begin rehab assignments this evening. Each right-hander struck out one while pitching a single inning of work tonight, with Grove working around a walk to produce a scoreless frame while Graterol allowed a hit and an unearned run in his inning of work. That both righties have reached the highest level of the minors in their rehab process is an exciting development for the Dodgers, as it suggests both will soon be available to contribute to a bullpen that has scuffled badly in recent days with a 5.51 ERA and 5.23 FIP since the calendar flipped to July.
Graterol hasn’t appeared in a big league game this year due to shoulder inflammation but has been one of the club’s most trusted relievers in recent years with a sterling 2.08 ERA and a strong 3.00 FIP in 117 innings of work since the start of the 2022 campaign, Grove, meanwhile, pitched to mixed results earlier this year before going down with a lat strain. The righty’s 5.06 ERA left much to be desired, but some of that lackluster run prevention seems to be due to unfortunate sequencing as demonstrated by his unusually low 62.5% strand rate and strong peripherals, including a 3.16 FIP, a strong 28.7% strikeout rate, and a fantastic 2.94 SIERA. Both hurlers should be welcome additions to the club’s bullpen when ready to return, possible sometime before the end of the month if their respective rehabs continue to go well.
Dodgers To Sign Nick Anderson To Minor League Deal
The Dodgers are signing right-handed pitcher Nick Anderson to a minor league deal. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the two sides were in agreement on a contract, while Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic confirmed that it would be a minor league pact. Bob Nightengale of USA Today later added that the deal has opt-outs on August 15 and 28. Anderson was designated for assignment by the Royals before the All-Star break and cleared release waivers on Saturday.
Anderson pitched well for the Braves over the first half of the 2023 season, posting a 3.06 ERA and 3.47 SIERA in 35 games, while collecting four wins, one save, and 15 holds. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury ended his year in mid-July. Despite his promising first half, the Braves dealt Anderson to the Royals following the season in exchange for cash considerations.
The 34-year-old right-hander was unable to replicate his first-half success in 2024, pitching to a 4.04 ERA and 4.39 SIERA in 37 outings with Kansas City. Although his fastball velocity is slightly up from last season, Anderson has struggled in almost every respect: His strikeout rate is down, his walk rate is up, and he has given up twice as many home runs as last year in close to the same number of innings. Considering his poor numbers this season and extensive injury history over the past few years, it wasn’t too surprising that Anderson was DFA’d after the Royals traded for fellow right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey. That said, Kansas City might have been hoping another team would claim Anderson off of waivers and take his 2024 salary off its books.
Instead, the Dodgers waited and signed Anderson to a minor league deal, which means they will only need to pay him a prorated portion of the league minimum salary. Although Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow are set to return from the IL this coming week, the Dodgers can still use all the pitching help they can get. The injury bug has hit their rotation much more than their bullpen, but L.A. is currently missing relievers like Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier, and Michael Grove. More to the point, the Dodgers simply need to ensure they have enough healthy arms – starters or relievers – to get them through the remainder of the season.
That being said, the Dodgers are surely hoping Anderson can be more than just a warm body. This organization has a great reputation for developing arms and helping veteran pitchers reinvent themselves. Perhaps L.A. can help Anderson rediscover what has made him such an effective reliever at previous points in his career. In addition to his strong 2023 campaign with the Braves, he was dominant from 2019-20 with the Marlins and Rays, pitching to a 2.77 ERA and 2.14 SIERA in 87 games.