Right-handed pitcher Will Klein is with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Friday, hinting at a roster move.
While there’s currently no news regarding what the move will be, manager Dave Roberts spoke about Michael Kopech dealing with some injury issues on Thursday night as his struggles continued.
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“I don’t know if he’s banged up,” Roberts said of Kopech after another pour outing from the hard-throwing righty. “It might be a shoulder. It might be an elbow. He’s obviously coming off knee surgery and just has a hard time syncing his throw up.”
He then got honest about Kopech’s potential role with the team heading into the postseason.
“I love Kopey. I know he’s doing everything he can,” Roberts said. “But it’s just for me, it’s, you’ve got to win games. You’ve got to give your defense a chance to make plays. The strike-throwing has just been difficult and inconsistent. That’s a hard question, I think right now. Right where we’re at, guys have got to – we’ve seen enough of a sample of guys that we’ve got to go with the most trusted guys right now. That’s kind of where my head’s at.”
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Kopech has made 14 appearances this season as he’s dealt with multiple injuries. He has a 2.45 ERA across 11 innings, but he’s had no command, walking 13 batters while striking out 12. He’s walked eight over his last four outings.
He said on Friday that he’s “battling a couple things right now.”
Who is Will Klein?
Klein, 25, has made 10 appearances for the Dodgers at the big league level this season, sporting a 3.38 ERA across 10.2 innings. He’s also deal with command troubles, issuing nine walks while striking out 15.
Klein has struggled at Triple-A Oklahoma City to the tune of a 5.16 ERA over 22.2 innings with 44 strikeouts to 17 walks. The Dodgers acquired him from the Seattle Mariners in June for left-handed pitcher Joe Jacques.
Photo Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
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4 Responses
So let’s get this straight. A pitcher with control issues is being replaced for now with another pitcher with the same issues. What’s the deal with Casparius?
Pretty much… Casparius is currently working through some things in AAA. Dodgers have the division all but wrapped up and can’t get the No. 2 seed so at this point they’re just waiting for next week to bring back Brock Stewart/Kyle Hurt/Roki Sasaki/Casparius
Agreed. Padres need to pick up 5 games in the final 8 to win the division. Possible, just not very likely. Would be good to get this group back!
Yup right now the focus is on figuring out who the best options will be come the Wild Card since the division is pretty much locked up and they’re almost certainly going to be the No. 3 seed