Dodgers call up Hurt, who fans 3 in 2 IP of relief
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
Kyle Hurt made his major league debut with two perfect innings of relief for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who promoted the hard-throwing San Diego County native and USC product before Tuesday night’s game against the Padres.
Hurt, 25, retired Fernando Tatís Jr., Juan Soto and Manny Machado in order on nine pitches in the eighth inning before striking out the side in the ninth, showing a 98 mph fastball. The Dodgers won 11-2.
Hurt didn’t get to Dodger Stadium until 25 minutes before first pitch, thanks to a late-night call-up, a long flight and L.A. traffic. His girlfriend, parents and plenty of friends made it to Chavez Ravine to see his 24-pitch gem.
“Every single guy in the bullpen that talked to me during the game, they just said, ‘Be yourself, don’t change a thing,'” Hurt said. “And that’s what I did. … I’ve been talking with my buddies for a long time about this, and my family. It’s just so cool to be a part of it.”
The minor league leader in strikeout rate, Hurt had 145 strikeouts in 88⅓ innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season and mixes a high-90s fastball with three other swing-and-miss pitches. He joins a Dodgers relief corps that has weathered injuries to put up the second-best ERA in the National League behind Atlanta.
In related roster moves, the Dodgers optioned left-hander Victor Gonzalez to Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed right-hander Gus Varland on the 60-day injured list.
The Dodgers acquired Hurt and left-hander Alex Vesia in an early 2021 trade with Miami for right-hander Dylan Floro. Miami had selected him in the fifth round of the shortened 2020 draft out of USC, where his size (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) and stuff were ahead of his production.
Hurt emerged as a prospect last year and accelerated significantly this season, striking out 110 in 65 innings before his promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City. In six outings there, he has struck out 35 in 23⅓ innings with a 3.09 ERA — with five of those appearances coming out of the bullpen.
Despite injuries that have Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen, Joe Kelly, Yency Almonte, J.P. Feyereisen, Alex Reyes and others on the IL, the first-place Dodgers have cobbled together a top-performing group of relievers that has maintained its excellence into September, where it has a 2.89 ERA.
Former Red Sox right-hander Ryan Brasier, who signed a minor league deal with Los Angeles in June, has allowed one run in 24 second-half innings, and Brusdar Graterol, the hard-throwing righty, has yielded one in 21⅔.
Their performances, along with closer Evan Phillips, stabilized a bullpen whose importance is that much more acute with left-handed starter Julio Urias on administrative leave after a domestic violence arrest, right-handed starter Walker Buehler cutting short his attempt to return from Tommy John surgery this season and a rotation that consists of veterans Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn, plus a group of young right-handers that includes Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Slumping Rangers slugger Adolis García was held out of Texas’ lineup for the third consecutive day Sunday, with president of baseball operations Chris Young saying the club wants the 2023 ALCS MVP to make some mechanical changes.
“We need him to kind of commit to some of these changes that we think will get him back to the ’23 version of himself and help him be the player that we know he can be,” Young said before Texas’ series finale against St. Louis.
García is hitting .155 in the past 20 games with 25 strikeouts. He is hitting .208 overall, with seven homers and a team-high 27 RBIs for a Rangers club that has struggled offensively. He ranked 14th in the majors with 122 home runs over the past four seasons.
García, who has started 55 of Texas’ 60 games in right field this season, missed only one other game before this weekend, with manager Bruce Bochy saying Friday that García was being given a mental break.
“It’s about the mental reset and coming back with more energy,” García told reporters Saturday. “I’m working on some stuff without the pressure of having to do something up there.”
García, 32, is in the final season of a two-year contract.
The anticipated return of Evan Carter to the active roster Tuesday, joining Wyatt Langford, Alejandro Osuna and Sam Haggerty, further crowds the Rangers outfield as García tries to return to the lineup.
“It’s going to be performance-driven at this point,” Young said.
Texas also made three roster moves before Sunday’s game. Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (triceps fatigue) was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Thursday, catcher Tucker Barnhart was designated for assignment, and right-hander Codi Heuer was selected from Triple-A Round Rock.
The Blue Jays placed outfielder Daulton Varsho on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left hamstring injury.
Varsho sustained the injury while attempting to leg out a triple during Toronto’s victory against the Athletics on Saturday.
Myles Straw will get the start in center field and bat eighth in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale.
Varsho, 28, is batting .207 with a team co-leading eight homers to go along with 20 RBIs in 24 games this season.
In other moves, the Blue Jays recalled utilityman Davis Schneider from Triple-A Buffalo, activated relief pitcher Erik Swanson from the 60-day injured list and optioned left-hander Easton Lucas to the Triple-A club.
Swanson, 31, has been hampered by median nerve entrapment since spring training, He has a 10.13 ERA with a 0-1 record in 5 1/3 innings during seven relief appearances in the minors this spring.
Schneider, 26, has gone 1-for-15 with one RBI and eight strikeouts in 10 games this season with the Blue Jays.
Lucas, 28, who was called up from Buffalo on Saturday and earned the win for the Blue Jays after 4 2/3 scoreless innings, is 3-2 record with a 5.82 ERA this season.
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