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Michael Kopech

Michael Kopech Undergoes Surgery On Torn Meniscus

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5:00pm: Kopech underwent surgery to address a torn meniscus in his right knee, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The righty is expected to be able to return before the end of the season.

11:55am: The Dodgers announced today that right-hander Tyler Glasnow has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, a move that was reported a few days ago. Righty Alexis Díaz was optioned to the minors to open an active roster spot and righty Michael Kopech was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot.

It’s a bit of a worrisome development for Kopech. He was only placed on the 15-day IL on July 1st, retroactive to June 28th, due to right knee inflammation. At that time, both the pitcher himself and manager Dave Roberts downplayed the severity. “I think we’re all hopeful it will be on the shorter end of it,” Roberts said last week, per Alden González of ESPN.

Either that comment wasn’t fully candid or something has changed since then, as this transfer now means that Kopech is ineligible to return until late August. The Dodgers haven’t yet provided any specific information about how long they expect Kopech to be out but the transfer provides at least a best-case scenario.

That’s an unfortunate development for both Kopech and the Dodgers. He also started the season on the IL due to a shoulder impingement and missed more than two months. He was healthy long enough to give the Dodgers seven shutout innings before going back on the IL again.

For the Dodgers, it’s yet another in a long line of injuries. They’ve been moving players on and off the IL all throughout the year, particularly on the pitching side. Even with Glasnow coming off the shelf today, they still have 11 arms on the IL. The bullpen is without Kopech, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove. Phillips and Grove had major surgeries and won’t be coming back this year.

If Kopech can return in August or September, then he could still be a part of the club’s bullpen down the stretch and into the postseason. Regardless, the Dodgers figure to add some arms prior to the deadline. All contending clubs look for bullpen additions at this time of year and the Dodgers should be even more motivated by their mounting injuries.

For Kopech personally, he’s an impending free agent. He could still return and go into the open market with some juice, but it’s been a less than ideal platform season so far. He previously struggled to establish himself as a starter with the White Sox, partially due to injuries, but a recent bullpen move seemed to be a good transition for him.

He tossed 43 2/3 innings out of Chicago’s bullpen last year. The 4.74 ERA wasn’t great, nor was the 12.6% walk rate, but he struck out 30.9% of batters faced. He reached another level after getting traded to the Dodgers, tossing 24 innings with a 1.13 ERA. His 33% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate were both slight improvements, though he also benefited from a .167 batting average on balls in play and 90.9% strand rate. Nonetheless, he played a key role in the playoffs, tossing nine innings with three earned runs allowed as the Dodgers went on to win it all.

Another full season as a relief weapon would have positioned him for a nice market this winter. Now, however, it’s possible the ongoing health problems will tamp down his earning power. As mentioned, he seemingly still has time to get healthy and finish strong but his injury history list continues to run long. He missed the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and has since spent time on the IL due to a strained left hamstring, left knee strain, right shoulder inflammation and right knee inflammation. He managed to avoid the IL last year while working as a reliever but now has been bit by the injury bug a few times here in 2025.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Dodgers Place Tony Gonsolin On 15-Day IL; Activate Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates

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The Dodgers’ injury-plagued bullpen got some reinforcements today, as the team activated Kirby Yates from the 15-day injured list and Michael Kopech from the 60-day injured list.  Right-hander Chris Stratton was designated for assignment to open up space for Kopech on the 26-man and 40-man rosters, while Yates returns to take the place of yet another injured pitcher, as Los Angeles placed Tony Gonsolin on the 15-day IL due to right elbow discomfort.

Turning to Gonsolin first, the idea of another elbow issue is particular ominous for a pitcher who is only just returning from a Tommy John surgery.  Recovering from that August 2023 procedure kept Gonsolin sidelined for all of last season, and then a back injury suffered during Spring Training delayed his 2025 debut until April 30, and Gonsolin has since posted a 5.00 ERA over 36 innings and seven starts.

It is perfectly normal for pitchers to look rusty in the wake of such long absences from the mound, though there hasn’t been a lot to love about Gonsolin’s 2025 performance.  Pluses include an above-average 24.2% strikeout rate and the fact that his 93.5mph fastball velocity matches his pre-surgery career average, though Gonsolin was never a high-velo pitcher.  Beyond those numbers, Gonsolin has been allowing a lot of hard contact and been walking batters (11.2BB%) at an ungainly rate, plus the home run increase that emerged in 2023 has carried over to 2025.

Any lingering elbow issues could explain these struggles, though Gonsolin and the Dodgers can only hope that this discomfort is only a temporary problem.  Gonsolin is surely disappointed over being sidelined again so soon after returning to action, and Los Angeles has now lost another arm from its starting rotation.

Even with Kopech and Yates activated today, the Dodgers’ injured list stands heavy with pitchers, as 14 hurlers remain sidelined.  Gonsolin, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki comprise most of the rotation names on the list, with other starters like Gavin Stone, River Ryan, and Kyle Hurt gone for 2025 due to longer-term injuries.  Emmet Sheehan had a Tommy John surgery in May 2024 and is only in the early stages of a rehab assignment, but he could be available after the All-Star break.  Shohei Ohtani has also been ramping up his throwing progression and is expected to return to pitching in the second half, and by this point, the Dodgers may need Ohtani’s arm as much as the lineup has relied on his MVP-level bat.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, and Justin Wrobleski comprise the current makeshift L.A. rotation, and Ben Casparius is the likeliest candidate to get starts in Gonsolin’s place.  The question must again be asked if the Dodgers’ staff will ever reach a true breaking point on the pitching front, as the club has remarkably remained a top contender (and last year’s World Series champion) in spite of the seemingly never-ending stream of injured arms.

Getting Kopech and Yates back will at least deepen the relief corps, which recently lost former closer Evan Phillips to a Tommy John surgery.  Tanner Scott remains the Dodgers’ first choice for saves but manager Dave Roberts recently said Scott wasn’t a lock for the closer role, so an experienced former closer like Yates or perhaps Kopech might get some consideration for ninth-inning work.

Yates had a 4.34 ERA over 18 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, though his peripherals suggest that Yates has suffered from a lot of bad luck.  The right-hander returns after a three-week stint on the IL due to a hamstring strain, while Kopech is making his season debut.  Kopech dealt with some forearm soreness early in Spring Training, and then developed a shoulder impingement near the end of camp that led to his placement on the 15-day and eventually the 60-day IL as he needed more time to properly rebuild his arm strength.

Los Angeles signed Stratton to a Major League deal on May 25, and this is already the second time the righty has been DFA’ed during his brief time in Dodger Blue.  Stratton cleared waivers, opted for free agency over an outright assignment to Triple-A, and then quickly re-signed with the Dodgers just yesterday to a new contract.  After allowing a run during an inning of work in yesterday’s game, Stratton has a 6.75 ERA over four innings and three total appearances with L.A.  It could be that today’s move is a paper transaction that could see Stratton soon back with the Dodgers in a few days’ time, or he could again choose free agency and this time seek out a role on a new team.

Dodgers Acquire Ryan Loutos, Claim J.P. Feyereisen

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The Dodgers have acquired right-hander Ryan Loutos from the Cardinals in exchange for cash and claimed righty J.P. Feyereisen off waivers from the Diamondbacks, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The Loutos trade was previously reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Dodgers moved righties Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech to the 60-day injured list to open 40-man roster spots for the two pickups.

Loutos, 26, has had a somewhat unusual trajectory to the big leagues, as explored in this profile from Goold last year. Due to his computer science background, the Cards hired him to develop an app to help minor leaguers use data, and let him pitch as well. “I know what I need to do to improve. I know what I could do,” Loutos said. “But I also know from their shoes what they see: ‘OK, let him play for a while. See what happens. Worst-case scenario, we maybe offer him a job in the front office. Best-case scenario, maybe he’s in the big leagues someday.’”

So far, the playing part has worked out okay. He made his major league debut last year, though it was brief. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings over three appearances. From the start of 2023 to the present, he has logged 134 innings on the farm with a 5.10 earned run average, 24.2% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate.

Feyereisen, 32, has a much longer big league track record. In 2021, he tossed 56 innings between the Brewers and Rays with a 2.73 ERA. He managed to top that performance in 2022, tossing 24 1/3 scoreless innings, with a 29.1% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate. However, a shoulder injury intervened and stopped him from building on those numbers.

He underwent shoulder surgery and was traded to the Dodgers ahead of the 2023 season. He hasn’t been able to fully re-establish himself in the majors since then. He eventually spent that entire 2023 season on the IL, not making an official appearance anywhere. The Dodgers shuttled him to Triple-A and back in 2024. He only got to pitch 11 big league innings, with an 8.18 ERA in those. His 5.48 ERA in Triple-A wasn’t especially impressive either.

He was outrighted off the roster last year, allowing him to elect free agency and sign a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks coming into 2025. He got called up a couple of weeks ago after posing a 0.96 ERA in Triple-A. He then allowed two earned runs in two innings for the Snakes before getting designated for assignment and put on waivers.

For the Dodgers, they are likely happy to have some fresh arms, one of which they are already familiar with. With Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both on the IL due to shoulder inflammation, they are down to a four-man rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. The club is keeping Sasaki and Yamamoto on the weekly schedule the pitchers are accustomed to from their time in Japan.

That situation, plus plenty of other injuries, have led to a great deal of creativity in cobbling the staff together. Pitchers like Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, Bobby Miller and Ben Casparius have made spot starts. Yoendrys Gómez, recently claimed off waivers from the Yankees, is working a long relief role. Both Loutos and Feyereisen have options, so the Dodgers are adding some arms with some roster flexibility. The team is about to start a stretch of playing ten straight games. After one off-day, they will play another nine straight.

To open spots for those two, Kopech and Treinen hit the 60-day IL. Kopech’s move isn’t especially surprising. He’s been on the 15-day IL all year long due to a shoulder impingement and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Even if he were to start one now, he would need a few weeks as a sort of delayed spring training. He could be reinstated from the IL in a couple of weeks but that doesn’t seem to be likely.

The move for Treinen is more notable. He started the season healthy but landed on the 15-day IL April 19th due to right forearm tightness. This transfer to the 60-day IL indicates the Dodgers don’t expect him back before the middle of June. He is 36 years old, turning 37 in June, and has a recent history of arm injuries. He only tossed five innings in 2022 due to shoulder problems and then underwent surgery which wiped out his 2023 campaign.

He got back on track last year with a 1.93 ERA in 46 2/3 innings, plus another 12 1/3 postseason innings with a 2.19 ERA, helping the Dodgers win the World Series. The team believed in that bounceback enough to give him a two-year, $22MM deal in free agency, the largest deal for a reliever going into his age-37 season or older since Mariano Rivera’s deal with the Yankees back in 2010.

Shortly after Treinen landed on the IL last month, manager Dave Roberts described the injury as a “low-grade sprain of the forearm” and downplayed the severity by saying “we’re in the dodged-a-bullet category.” It’s unclear if Roberts was just masking the extent of the injury or if something changed, but Treinen now appears to be slated for an absence of at least a couple of months.

Photo courtesy of John Geliebter, Imagn Images.

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 Add Roki Sasaki To 40-Man Roster

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The Dodgers have finalized their roster in advance of their Opening Day tilt with the Cubs. Los Angeles officially added Roki Sasaki to their 40-man roster. They also selected the contract of veteran reliever Luis García, who had been in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove were placed on the 60-day injured list to create the necessary 40-man openings. Grove underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last week. Graterol is recovering from a labrum procedure in his own shoulder and will not be back until the second half of the season at the earliest.

Los Angeles placed an additional seven pitchers on the 15-day IL: Tony Gonsolin (back tightness), Edgardo Henriquez (left foot fracture), Kyle Hurt (rehabbing Tommy John surgery),  Clayton Kershaw (rehabbing toe surgery), Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement), Evan Phillips (rehabbing rotator cuff strain), and Emmet Sheehan (rehabbing Tommy John surgery). With Gavin Stone and River Ryan landing on the 60-day IL during Spring Training, the Dodgers have 11 pitchers beginning the season on the injured list. Each of Kershaw, Sheehan, Hurt and potentially Henriquez figure to land on the 60-day IL eventually.

By and large, these are procedural moves. The only real decision is their call to carry García in the bullpen. The hard-throwing righty inked a minor league deal that came with a $1.5MM base salary if he made the team. He didn’t have a great camp, allowing three runs with a trio of strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. The Dodgers were nevertheless encouraged enough by his stuff to add him to Dave Roberts’ middle relief group.

García divided his 2024 season between the Angels and Red Sox. The 38-year-old pitched reasonably well for the Halos, working to a 3.71 earned run average through 43 2/3 innings. He posted roughly average strikeout (22%) and walk (7.7%) rates with a strong 51.2% ground-ball percentage. Things went sharply downhill in Boston. García missed a couple weeks late in the season with elbow inflammation. He was tagged for 15 runs across 15 1/3 innings in a Sox uniform. That pushed his season ERA to an unimpressive 4.88 mark through 59 frames.

Sasaki was not previously on the 40-man roster as a quirk of the international amateur system. The same age restriction that capped his signing bonus to a modest $6.5MM also limited him to signing a minor league contract. The Dodgers were never going to send him to Triple-A, of course, but he was technically in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Sasaki took the ball twice in exhibition play. He fired seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

The touted 23-year-old righty will make his major league debut on Wednesday night in his home country (3:10 a.m. Pacific in the U.S.). He’ll go opposite Justin Steele in the second game of the season. It’ll be a matchup of Japanese-born starters Tuesday night at the Tokyo Dome, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the ball against Shota Imanaga.

Dodgers Notes: Phillips, Kopech, Henriquez

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The Dodger bullpen was so crowded that Ryan Brasier was designated for assignment and flipped to the Cubs a little over a month ago, despite posting a solid 3.54 earned run average last year. Since camp has opened, a few injuries have created a bit of breathing room, with Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech a bit behind the rest of the group.

It was reported about three weeks ago that both pitchers were delayed as camp opened. Phillips was diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during last year’s playoffs. Surgery was not recommended and a cortisone injection had led to some healing, but the damage lingered into at least December and slowed his offseason throwing progression. It was reported a little over a week ago that the righty would not be ready by Opening Day.

Manager Dave Roberts provided Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic with a positive update. Roberts relayed that he watched Phillips throw a bullpen session today and came away impressed. He added that Phillips will stay in Arizona to continue getting work in while most of the Dodgers head to Japan for the Tokyo Series. Phillips will miss those Tokyo games and the start of the domestic regular season but Roberts says he should be back with the club in the first half of April. That’s good news as Phillips posted a 2.21 earned run average with the Dodgers over the past three seasons, striking out 29.6% of opponents while only giving out walks at a 6.5% clip.

As for Kopech, his track record as a reliever is far shorter but he still projects to be a key part of the bullpen. A starter for most of his career, he moved to relief work last year and had a 3.46 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers. His 12.2% walk rate for the year was high but he punched out 31.5% of batters faced.

But he has been battling some forearm inflammation in recent months, putting his status for the start of 2025 in question. Yesterday, Ardaya relayed that Kopech was throwing a bullpen session. Kopech’s status is still up in the air but it does at least seem as though some progress is being made.

With some extra bullpen opportunities opening up, it could have been a chance for someone like Edgardo Henriquez to earn a job, but that won’t happen now. The young righty was spotted in a walking boot in the clubhouse yesterday. Roberts told Ardaya that the righty had a “mishap” away from the field and will be out of action for about four to six weeks. While the nature of the injury is mysterious, the point is that Henriquez won’t be able to step up and force his way into the bullpen while Phillips and Kopech are delayed.

Henriquez, 23 in June, was called up by the Dodgers late in September of last year. He tossed 3 1/3 innings but impressed the club enough to make the playoff roster, tossing another five innings in the postseason.

It’s hard to read much into that small sample of work but he averaged 98.7 miles per hour on his heater and 89.4 mph with his cutter. Prior to his call-up, he logged 53 minor league innings last year with a 2.72 ERA and 38.9% strikeout rate. The 12.8% walk rate is on the high side but the punchouts are huge and he is still young. He should factor into the Dodger bullpen mix down the line but will have to stay on ice for now.

Evan Phillips: “Opening Day Is Off The Table” Due To Shoulder Rehab

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Reports from last week indicated that Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips might begin the season on the 15-day injured list, as his offseason throwing work was delayed until January due to a small tear in the tendon of his right rotator cuff.  Phillips confirmed his status to reporters (including the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett) on Friday, saying that “Opening Day is off the table,” even though he doesn’t expect to miss much time.

Some positive steps have already been taken in that direction, as Phillips said his shoulder has felt good during his ramp-up work in camp.  This includes his first proper bullpen session of Spring Training, which took place yesterday.  The Dodgers figure to take Phillips along pretty slowly in camp to make up for his lost prep time during the offseason, yet the early indications are promising.

Phillips emerged as the Dodgers’ closer in 2023 by converting 24 of 27 save chances and posting a 2.05 ERA over 61 1/3 innings.  That ERA shot up to a 3.62 mark over 54 2/3 innings in 2024, due in large part to a more baseline amount of batted-ball luck — Phillips had a .219 BABIP in 2023, and a .298 BABIP last season.  The right-hander’s SIERAs over both seasons were virtually identical (3.08 in 2023, 3.15 in 2024) and his walk rate increased from a very strong 5.6% to an only decent 7.5%.  Most of Phillips’ struggles last year came in one brutal six-outing stretch in July that saw him tagged for a 19.64 ERA over just 3 2/3 innings of work, but he righted the ship over the last two months of the regular season.

The good form continued into October with 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball in the NLDS and NLCS, except Phillips’ shoulder injury then kept him off the World Series roster.  Phillips said he received a PRP injection in his shoulder in November, though an MRI in December still showed “some damage,” hence the adjustments to his offseason throwing routine.

Phillips’ health status was undoubtedly a factor in the Dodgers’ decision to sign Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates this offseason, fortifying the end-game innings just in case Phillips does have to miss any time.  Michael Kopech’s status is also a question mark, though Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Kopech is set to “touch the mound” for a brief throwing session tomorrow.  Reports last month indicated that Kopech is dealing with some forearm inflammation, and while the Dodgers didn’t think the situation was too serious, Kopech has indeed been limited in his throwing during Spring Training.

In other Dodgers pitching news, Bobby Miller updated the media on his condition after the right-hander was struck in the head by a Michael Busch line drive on Thursday.  Miller told Ardaya that he is dealing with some headaches and drowsiness, and Roberts said yesterday that the team would continue to monitor Miller through concussion protocol.  All in all, it seems as though Miller has thankfully emerged relatively unscathed from the scary incident.

Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech Behind Schedule

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Dodgers right-hander Evan Phillips missed the World Series last year due to shoulder troubles, but the full scope of his injury was never made clear until camp opened this week. Phillips tells the Dodgers beat that he was diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during the 2024 postseason (link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). The tear was not significant enough for doctors to recommend surgery, but Phillips received a cortisone injection and was shelved while his teammates closed out the postseason with a World Series win over the Yankees.

Even with the lack of surgery, Phillips could be IL-bound to begin the season, Plunkett writes. A follow-up MRI in December revealed significant healing but still some damage. Phillips has been limited in his offseason throwing program but said yesterday that he hopes to be on a mound “soon.”

The 30-year-old Phillips is a key member of the Dodgers’ late-inning relief corps when healthy. He picked up 18 saves in 2024 and another 24 saves the year prior. During his three full seasons as a Dodger, the former Braves, Orioles and Rays castoff has posted a 2.21 ERA with a big 29.6% strikeout rate against a tidy 6.5% walk rate. Phillips has saved 44 games overall and also been credited with 34 holds. He’s earning $6.1MM this year in his penultimate season of club control before reaching free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

There’s a similarly murky update on fellow late-inning righty Michael Kopech. The Dodgers quickly moved to downplay a report that their deadline bullpen acquisition from last summer would miss a month to begin the season. GM Brandon Gomes at the time said that the team hadn’t seen “anything of concern yet” with regard to Kopech’s reportedly ailing forearm. To be fair to the team, there’s still no firm indication Kopech will be out a month, but manager Dave Roberts today conceded that Kopech, like Phillips, is “a little behind schedule” and is not a lock to be on the Opening Day roster (via The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya).

Like Phillips, Kopech played a key role in the Dodger bullpen after struggling with another organization. He posted a lackluster 4.73 ERA with the White Sox despite a huge 30.9% strikeout rate. Command was an issue with the South Siders, evidenced by a 12.6% walk rate, but a pitcher with Kopech’s raw stuff and former prospect pedigree seemed like he should fare better than he was with the ChiSox.

His fortunes indeed turned almost immediately after the trade. Kopech posted a microscopic 1.13 earned run average in 24 innings with Los Angeles. His 33% strikeout rate was a slight improvement, as was his 11.4% walk rate, but that walk rate was still about three percentage points higher than average. Kopech enjoyed a significant uptick in his opponents’ swinging-strike rate and chase rate, however, which adds some legitimacy to the improvement. He’s not going to sustain the ridiculous .167 average on balls in play or 91% strand rate he enjoyed with the Dodgers, but Kopech’s power arsenal and bat-missing abilities should make him a key arm for Roberts in the right-hander’s final season before free agency — assuming this forearm issue indeed proves minor.

The Dodgers, of course, made several meaningful splashes in the bullpen this winter, which will help to offset any missed time for Phillips and Kopech. In addition to re-signing Blake Treinen on a two-year deal, they gave out the largest contract for any reliever this winter when signing Tanner Scott on a four-year, $72MM deal. That pair will be joined by right-hander Kirby Yates, who inked a one-year, $13MM pact.

Michael Kopech Has Begun Offseason Throwing Program

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January 22: Los Angeles general manager Brandon Gomes downplayed the situation this evening. Gomes said that Kopech is amidst his offseason throwing program and said he “(doesn’t) think there’s anything of concern at this point” with their potential closer (relayed by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).

January 21: The Dodgers are seemingly on the verge of adding two high-leverage bullpen pieces. After agreeing to terms on a four-year deal with Tanner Scott over the weekend, Los Angeles reportedly has a tentative agreement in place to sign All-Star righty Kirby Yates.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who was first to report that the Dodgers and Yates were closing in on a deal, linked the expected addition to the health status of Michael Kopech. There hadn’t been any prior indication that Kopech was facing a potential injury absence. Nightengale reports that the hard-throwing righty has been battling forearm inflammation. He has not been diagnosed with any structural damage, though Nightengale indicates that the Dodgers will take a cautious approach early in the season.

Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote this morning that Kopech pitched through what was seemingly a minor forearm issue during last fall’s World Series run. Acquired from the White Sox in a three-team deadline deal, Kopech had a brilliant first few months in Los Angeles. He fired 24 innings down the stretch and posted a 1.13 earned run average. He struck out 33% of opposing hitters while generating swinging strikes on a fantastic 15.8% of his offerings.

Kopech’s playoff performance was a little more shaky. While he only allowed three runs in nine postseason innings, he issued seven free passes while striking out 10 batters. Kopech didn’t lose any life on his 98-99 MPH fastball, though, so that dip was probably more about small sample variance than a reflection that he was significantly hampered physically. His command has never been pristine.

For now, the forearm inflammation seems to be something worth monitoring rather than a huge concern. Nightengale suggests that Kopech could begin the season on the injured list, but no one from the team has publicly stated that’ll be the case. Even if he does miss a few weeks early in the year, the Dodgers have plenty of talent to weather his absence.

The Dodgers could have four or five potential closers. Scott closed for the Marlins for a few seasons before moving into a setup capacity with the Padres after a deadline trade. Evan Phillips had been L.A.’s primary closer for over a year before the Kopech acquisition. Phillips battled shoulder issues late in the season and wasn’t able to go in the World Series. The Dodgers brought back high-leverage arm Blake Treinen on a two-year contract early in the offseason. If they finalize the Yates deal, he could be the favorite for the ninth after saving 33 games for the Rangers. Skipper Dave Roberts will have plenty of high-octane arms he can juggle even if Kopech begins the year on the shelf.

Dodgers, Kirby Yates Reportedly Reach “Tentative” Agreement

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10:55am: There’s nothing official in place yet, per reports from Jack Harris of the L.A. Times and Ken Rosenthal and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (among others). Harris writes that the two parties are “working toward a deal,” while The Athletic indicates “serious” negotiations are taking place. There could simply be semantics at play. Nightengale’s initial report plainly stated that a physical still needs to take place, so there’s never been firm indication of a final deal yet. A physical for a 38-year-old pitcher with Yates’ injury history isn’t necessarily a layup, but that seems to be the stage they’ve reached. If all goes well, a deal would be announced in the next few days.

9:52am: The Dodgers and reliever Kirby Yates have reached a “tentative” agreement, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The contract is pending completion of a physical. Yates, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, would be the second high-profile bullpen addition for the Dodgers in recent days; they also inked Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72MM deal over the weekend. If the physical goes well and the deal is indeed finalized, L.A. will need to make a corresponding transaction to remove someone from the 40-man roster.

It’s the latest strike in an offseason spending blitz that has seen the Dodgers make free agent plays for Scott, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernandez, Blake Treinen, Michael Conforto and international stars Hyeseong Kim and Roki Sasaki. Those additions come as Los Angeles looks to become the first repeat World Series champion since the Yankees’ threepeat back in 1998-2000.

Manager Dave Roberts’ bullpen has been completely remade over the past six months, beginning with the deadline acquisition of Michael Kopech. In late July, closer Evan Phillips was struggling at the time of that Kopech acquisition, and much of the bullpen was in a state of flux. Since then, the Dodgers have acquired Kopech, activated Treinen from the injured list (and, this offseason, re-signed him to a two-year deal) and now signed both Scott and Yates in free agency. A late-inning contingent of Scott, Yates, Kopech, Phillips and Treinen is very arguably the most talented quintet of any team in baseball.

It should be noted, however, that Nightengale suggests the Dodgers recently learned of an injury to Kopech that could cost him at least a month of the season. Details on said injury have yet to surface, but that revelation likely played a part in the team’s decision to close an agreement with Yates.

Yates himself isn’t without risk. He’ll turn 38 in March, and he pitched all of 11 major league innings from 2020-22 due to injuries (Tommy John surgery, most notably). The veteran closer returned with a healthy but shaky season for the 2023 Braves, logging a sharp 3.28 ERA in 60 1/3 innings but also walking nearly 15% of his opponents. He improved across the board with the 2024 Rangers, firing 61 2/3 innings of 1.17 ERA ball with a gargantuan 35.9% strikeout rate. His 11.8% walk rate was still noticeably higher than the 8.2% league average but a substantial improvement over his 2023 campaign nonetheless.

Yates ranked second among all free agent relievers in strikeout rate last year, trailing only Aroldis Chapman. He paced all qualified free agent relievers in ERA and ranked seventh or better in SIERA (2.85), K-BB% (24.1) and swinging-strike rate (15.2%). No qualified free agent reliever missed bats within the strike zone as much as Yates; his opponents’ 74.3% contact rate on pitches in the strike zone sat at the top of this year’s free agent class and sat as the third-best mark in all of baseball for pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched, trailing only Josh Hader and Mason Miller.

Dating back to his breakout with the 2018 Padres, Yates has consistently been outstanding when healthy enough to take the hill. He’s pitched 257 innings in that time and boasts a 2.21 ERA, 35.5% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 15.2% swinging-strike rate. He’s leaned on a lethal four-seamer and splitter pairing that’s helped him miss bats in droves while piling up 93 saves and 30 holds in 262 appearances on the mound.

The Dodgers are already well into the fourth and final tier of luxury penalization. Any dollars allocated to Yates will come with a 110% tax, as was the case with Scott. RosterResource already projects the team’s luxury tax ledger to sit at a staggering $371MM; the addition of Yates could push their CBT number close to $400MM. The Dodgers were already set to owe around $108MM in overage taxes before the signing of Yates; presuming he gets an eight-figure salary, they’ll very likely owe more than $120MM in taxes alone.

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