The Los Angeles Dodgers made a roster move on Saturday, Aug. 1, promoting Kyle Hurt and Wyatt back to the major league staff, designating Cole Irvin for assignment, and most notably, putting Will Klein on the injured list.
Klein is hitting the 15-day injured list with right elbow soreness. The righty had a noticeable drop in velocity of a couple of miles per hour from the start of the season, which is a sign of wear.
His pitching results have also been trending down.
In June, he had a 4.32 ERA in 8.1 innings. Things got worse in July; he had a 7.71 ERA in 9.1 innings.
Manager Dave Roberts noted that the team was going to find out the cause behind the drop-off.
“We’re still trying to dig into it,” Roberts said. “I thought there were some good fastball throws in there tonight, but the secondary stuff, that’s kind of what’s getting him.
“The sweeper is not a strike; is not getting chase from it. The curveball has a different shape to it than it did last year. So I don’t know if it’s an arm thing, a mechanics thing, but that’s something we’re trying to dig in on.”
Cole Irvin’s contributions
Irvin was brought in for a bullpen game on Friday as Shohei Ohtani stopped pitching due to left knee soreness, leaving an opening in the six-man rotation.
The Dodgers deployed Edgardo Henriquez as the opener, Will Klein as the piggyback, and then Irvin, who threw six valuable innings and 102 pitches.
He saved the Dodgers from using their regular bullpen arms, with only Evan Phillips pitching after the lefty finished his work.
Now, Irvin heads back down to the minor leagues, something he was well aware would be his fate.
“Part of the job. I signed up to be a Major League Baseball player, and some nights aren’t going to go your way,” Irvin said.
“And you just got to be able to take it on the lip and keep going. I can sit here and smile because all the work that I put into my season so far got me this opportunity, and I’m not going to let anything get in the way of the joy that I have right now. And yeah, it sucks to lose, but at the same time, I earned this opportunity.”
How has Kyle Hurt done since going down to Triple-A?
Since getting demoted, Hurt has pitched in three games. He has allowed six runs in 2.1 innings of work.
Much of that damage came in one appearance, when he allowed two hits, two walks, and a hit batter that led to five runs being charged to him.
Hurt was sensational for the Dodgers in the first few months, showing promising stuff and looking like the pitcher that the organization had been raving about.
However, over time, things fell apart, but he gets another shot to prove that it was an aberration rather than his actual level of play.
