It took 10 games into the regular season, but the Dodgers finally made their first official roster transaction of the year, recalling right-handed fireballer Dennis Santana and optioning righty swing man Brock Stewart to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The move came ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies in Denver.
The reasoning seems to be twofold.
First, lefty Julio Urias is still on a relatively short leash as far as innings go.
The 22-year-old lefty threw phenomenally in his first outing of the year last week against the Giants, going an even five innings while striking out seven and walking none. However, there’s still speculation regarding the approach that management will take in terms of his innings limit in light of his continued recovery from UCL surgery.
In theory, Urias may have just one or two more starts under his belt before the return of either Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill.
Moreover, a fresh arm in the relief corps of the Dodgers would be tremendously beneficial. In Saturday’s contest, Los Angeles used six different relievers in the win while using seven relievers in the victory on Friday.
At this point, Santana could be the perfect candidate to piggy-back Urias, potentially providing multiple innings of work.
The second reason is that Brock Stewart has simply been ineffective.
The 27-year-old Stewart has given up eight runs on nine hits—two of them home runs— and two walks over the three games he has thrown so far this year.
It is still unknown whether Stewart will join the starting rotation or throw in relief upon his arrival to Oklahoma City.
Still only 22-years-old, Santana made his big league debut last year but was shut down in June with a severe rotator cuff injury.
Ironically, Santana’s lone appearance for the Dodgers came in Colorado last season, where he threw 3-2/3 innings and registered the win in the team’s 11-8 victory. His numbers on the mound weren’t exactly spectacular, but he is remembered by many for the two-run double he slugged off Tyler Anderson in his only AB of the contest.
Across two levels of the farm last year, Santana made 10 total appearances, posting a 2.54 ERA with a whopping 65 strikeouts over 49-2/3 innings.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Santana huh? Ok. I thought it would be someone with a little more experience. Hope he sticks. This is the bigs kid. Work the perimeters.
LikeLike
RIP Stewart. All mediocre things comes to an end. Please no flowers. Send donations to c/o Goodwill Industries. They need the $$ right now.
LikeLike
The beat goes on!
LikeLike
Going into St Louis with the pen a bit beat up. We need Ryu to go 7 innings tomorrow and give them a break
LikeLike
Maybe the bullpen will get it together about the time the offense cools off. It often happens that the bats are ahead of the arms.
LikeLike
Bellinger is seeing the ball so well right now it’s ridiculous.
LikeLike
Last year his swing and miss rate was so high even right in the zone. He’s crushing those pitches so far this year. Is Von Scoyoc a big part of this?
LikeLike
I think we should all prepare ourselves for a leveling off of the numbers. We have 9 guys OPSn over 1.000. Heck, Maeda, Urias and Stewart are OPSn over 1.000. Those numbers are coming down eventually. This fun to watch, when I can watch it, so we should enjoying it while it lasts. But make no mistake, no team is this good. We are on pace for a run differential of 580 and 129 wins.
Why is Joe Kelly so hittable? After watching him closely so far it’s my opinion if hitters are patient they will get a straight 4 seamer over the heart of the plate. He’s got pitches he spins, some for strikes, but his command is his problem. If you’re going to throw a fastball in a fastball count don’t groove it. Major League hitters have caught up with that cheese so find the outer markers of the strike zone or pay the price. His career ERA of 4 tells a story. With his stuff he should be in the 2’s. He was a starter for the first 5 years of his career. It could be his best years are behind him. He’s 31 and has been throwing very hard as a reliever for the last 3 years. I think he needs to become a pitcher, not a thrower. 94 on the black is better than 98 down the middle.
LikeLike
Really Scoop, u don’t think Belli is gonna hit a 100 hr’s! Hopefully when he and some others level off Seager and Turner will heat up. I think with our depth hopefully somebody is always on a roll. Tho we haven’t exactly faced great pitching yet So it’s too early to proclaim us “elite” but it sure has been fun so far!
LikeLike
“Really Scoop, u don’t think Belli is gonna hit a 100 hr’s! “
Sure I do. It’s just gonna take 3 years to do it.
This team is going to roll to another Division title. There will be ups and downs all year long, but it would take an epic failure to not win the West and I don’t see that happening.
LikeLike