The Los Angeles Dodgers placed reliever Blake Treinen on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation and recalled right-hander Chayce McDermott from Triple-A Oklahoma City, another bullpen adjustment for a team already managing heavy roster traffic in Major League Baseball.
The move was reported Saturday before the middle game of the Dodgers' weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles at Dodger Stadium. True Blue LA's transaction report said Treinen had pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Friday's opener, striking out two before Los Angeles rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Treinen Exit Forces Dodgers Bullpen Move
Treinen had made 29 appearances this season with a 3.52 ERA, 25 strikeouts and eight unintentional walks over 23 innings, according to the same report. Those are not throwaway innings for the Dodgers; he was tied for third on the staff in appearances and had worked in higher-leverage spots among the club's regular relievers.
The club did not have to invent a roster mechanism to cover the absence. McDermott was already on the depth chart after Los Angeles acquired him from Baltimore on April 16, and Saturday's recall gives the Dodgers another right-handed arm while Treinen is sidelined.
McDermott's return is his second major league stint with the Dodgers this season. He threw one scoreless inning in his previous appearance for Los Angeles on May 17, while his Triple-A line for Oklahoma City stood at a 5.40 ERA with 30 strikeouts and 13 walks in 16 2/3 innings.
McDermott Gets Another Dodgers Opportunity
The timing is awkward because Treinen's latest outing did not point to an obvious performance issue. A clean ninth inning, two strikeouts and a win on Friday night became an injured-list move less than a day later, which is usually how bullpen planning gets its coffee spilled.
For Los Angeles, the immediate question is workload rather than long-range prognosis. The verified move is narrow: Treinen is on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, McDermott is up from Oklahoma City, and the Dodgers continue the Baltimore series with another change to the relief group.