Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday that he doesn’t feel the need to ask the front office to promote left-handed wunderkind Julio Urias because the team’s executives already know Roberts wants it to happen, tweets Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. Roberts stated May 7 that Urias was atop the Dodgers’ list of potential call-ups, but the club has since promoted Mike Bolsinger and Chin-hui Tsao instead, as noted by the Times’ Bill Shaikin (on Twitter). Urias, for his part, continued making his big league case Friday night by throwing five scoreless innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The 19-year-old has now worked 27 straight scoreless frames and has posted a 1.10 ERA, 44 strikeouts and eight walks in 41 innings on the season.
More on the Dodgers, who entered play Saturday at a disappointing 21-22:
- Los Angeles heavily pursued Orioles setup man Darren O’Day when he was a free agent over the winter, reports Shaikin. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman went so far as to have conversations with O’Day, not just his agent, but the 33-year-old elected to re-sign with Baltimore on a four-year, $31MM pact. “As persuasive as Andrew Friedman is, and the Dodgers are a great franchise, it’s a long way from home,” said O’Day. “If I was a single guy, I’d probably be wearing white and blue.” The Dodgers have shuffled through several eighth-inning options this year, as Shaikin writes, which perhaps could have been avoided had they landed O’Day.
- Southpaw Hyun-jin Ryu will start for Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register was among those to report (via Twitter), and could rejoin the Dodgers as early as June 9, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group. Ryu, who hasn’t appeared in a major league game since October 2014, is working his way back from May 2015 shoulder surgery. The 29-year-old was a stellar part of the Dodgers’ rotation during his first two seasons, totaling 344 innings of 3.17 ERA/2.97 FIP/3.27 xFIP ball.
- The news isn’t as positive on right-hander Brandon McCarthy, per Plunkett. McCarthy’s throwing program has been temporarily halted after he experienced arm-related discomfort following a recent live batting practice session, said general manager Farhan Zaidi. However, the Dodgers don’t think this setback will affect McCarthy’s scheduled early July return from 2015 Tommy John surgery.