With the inordinate amount of lefties in the bullpen, there's a real need for some of the Los Angeles Dodgers' right-handed relievers to round into form.
Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates have both struggled recently. Ben Casparius was sent down to Triple-A to presumably figure some things out. Blake Treinen has looked far from the dominant force he was in last year's postseason. From there, that leaves a very in-form Emmet Sheehan and a young Edgardo Henriquez as the other righty relievers counted upon at this moment.
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There's talk of Brock Stewart joining the team sooner than later. The same can be said for Roki Sasaki -- the rookie fireballer who's coming out of the bullpen in the minor leagues presumably as a precursor to a potential role in the postseason. From there, there's one other name creeping in the shadows that may end up making the roster much to the surprise of most of the fan base.
Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation asked Roberts specifically about minor league pitcher Kyle Hurt and whether he could be an option moving forward with less than two weeks to go in the regular season.
This is a show-what-you've-done-for-me-lately sport, and most of the right-handed relievers simply have not been good enough up to this point. There's some real worry with a few of those arms moving forward. As such, Los Angeles is being very proactive in turning over all possible stones in search of some production.
Hurt has made only four MLB appearances over two years (2023, 2024). He was shut down last July and has been recovering from Tommy John surgery. While the sample size is understandably minimal, the 27-year-old out of USC is a player with tremendous talent.
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Hurt has a four-seam fastball sitting in the mid-to-upper 90s. However, his best pitch is a changeup with tremendous tilt and movement. As Roberts mentioned, there's real swing-and-miss ability -- and the changeup also plays against left-handed hitters.
He's been slowly working his way back which has included multiple appearances this week in Triple-A. There's not much time for Hurt to potentially make his way onto the big league roster before the end of the year. However, if he is included on a Wild Card roster, the Dodgers must have a ton of faith in his ability. Having not been seen by virtually any other team also could help deception-wise.
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