After taking two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies, the Los Angeles Dodgers are enjoying an off day before they head out on an NL West road trip to Arizona and San Diego.
The Dodgers will then come back home to Dodger Stadium for a four-game set against the Chicago Cubs and two games with the San Francisco Giants. They will have 12 straight games before another off day on June 30.
On Thursday, the Dodgers made some roster moves before their next round of games. The team announced that they have traded RHP Dennis Santana to the Texas Rangers in exchange for LHP Kelvin Bautista.
Santana was signed by the Dodgers in 2013 at the age of 17. He was originally a shortstop and was eventually moved to the mound. Santana has an electric fastball but has struggled to find command in recent years. He had recently be designated for assignment to make space on the 40-man roster.
Bautista is a 21-year-old lefty who was signed out of the Dominican Republic at the age of 18. He struck out 46 across 29 innings in the Arizona League in 2019. He has yet to pitch above the Arizona Leagues, but he has a fastball that has been recently clocked as high as 98 mph. He, like Santana, also has lacked command. Bautista will most likely be considered as a relief pitcher going forward.
Also on Thursday, the Dodgers activated LHP Garrett Cleavinger from the injured list. In the corresponding move, the team optioned Luke Raley to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Raley was called up on June 12 when Max Muncy went on the injured list with a sore oblique.
Cleavinger had been on the injured list for left forearm inflammation. In his most recent outing of his rehab assignment for Oklahoma City, he retired the side in order with two strikeouts. Cleavinger has appeared in eight games so far for the Dodgers this season. He has pitched 6.0 innings, allowed three earned runs, two home runs, issued four walks and struck out nine.
Adding Cleavinger back to the bullpen will give the Dodgers 14 pitchers and 12 position players, as aforementioned with the 12 upcoming games in a row.
Also, according to MiLB-Transactions account on Twitter, the Dodgers have released minor leaguers RHP Morgan Cooper and OF Brandon Wulff, both of whom were drafted in 2017. 2018 8th rounder Luke Heyer has also been released.
Rangel Ravelo, a 29-year-old Cuban infielder/outfielder most recently with the Dodgers Triple-A club, and fan favorite of our own Jeff D., is headed to Japan. His contract was bought by the Orix Buffaloes.
The Dodgers now look to make some gains on the Giants as they take on the woeful Diamondbacks. Los Angeles is still second in the NL West, 2.5 games behind the Giants. San Francisco just completed a sweep of the Diamondbacks and will now face the Phillies at home.
The Los Angeles offense hopes to ignite against Arizona, despite the fact it is missing Muncy, Cody Bellinger, and Corey Seager. Wednesday’s game was an off day for Justin Turner as well, and the offense was shut out for the first time since Sept 14, 2019.
Probable starting pitchers for the weekend are Friday, Trevor Bauer; Saturday, Walker Buehler; and Sunday, Tony Gonsolin. All starters for the Diamondbacks are to be determined at this time.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
We could not be facing the D’backs at a worse time. Never mind their sad record-breaking losses on the road record, they have lost 14 in a row, home and road combined. No matter how bad their pitching is right now, our offense is missing three big bats and is capable of stalling against anyone. The odds that a team on a 14 game losing streak loses three more in a row are not good. I’ll be very satisfied if we take 2 out of 3.
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Can’t believe you didn’t acknowledge the shoutout, Jeff. I’m hurt
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When you read with your eyes closed you tend to miss things Andy.
Thanks for the shoutout!
I wish Rangel all the best in Korea. If he follows the path of others he may have a couple of good years over there and get himself a nice contract back in the States, although I seriously doubt it would be with the Dodgers.
I think Santana landing with the Rangers will be good for him. The need to perform at a top level every time out just ain’t the same in Dallas. Maybe that will help him realize his potential. He’s a really good kid.
I have real hopes for Souza. He seems like the type of guy we could use in the clubhouse and, of course, we could use some help on the field these days also. If he can get most of the way back to what he was in Tampa, he’ll be a real help.
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A Twitter friend reached out to Santana today, and said he was in good spirits and feeling good about the move. I also hope the change of scenery is good for him
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Jeff, Rangel is headed to JAPAN, not Korea. Orix is a Japanese team. I will not miss Santana or Raley. If they call anyone up from OKC it should be Reks. Raley could not hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle. Besides isn’t our Hero Tsutsugo close to coming back? Seager should be back by the 1st week in July, and then we will gain some offense.
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Thanks for the correction Bear. I knew it was Japan, I just thought it was spelled KOREA. 🙂 He’ll have a better test of his abilities in Japan anyway and if he does well a better path to signing back here somewhere.
They must really think they can fix Tsutsugo. I would have thought he would be long gone off the 40-man by now. It will be interesting to see if Raley or Yoshi goes first. I agree, if they bring up another left handed hitter at some point it’s time to give Reks a chance. Based on everyone they’ve brought up ahead of him, I guess that means they have the least confidence in him. He could hardly be much worse than the guys who preceded him.
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I would DFA Raley, release Yoshi, and try and see if they can do a pre-emptive strike for a reliever somehow. But what do I know.
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