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.
