The Dodgers placed reliever Brock Stewart on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder discomfort. Los Angeles selected left-hander Cole Irvin onto the big league roster to take his bullpen spot. Righty Chayce McDermott was designated for assignment to open a spot for Irvin on the 40-man roster.
Any shoulder injury for Stewart raises alarm given his injury history, which includes a debridement surgery that ended his 2025 season. However, manager Dave Roberts told reporters this placement is out of caution and not expected to require a significant absence (relayed by Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register). Jack Harris of The California Post reports that the Dodgers don’t plan to more aggressively pursue bullpen help on the trade front in response to this injury.
L.A. welcomed Edwin Díaz back from the injured list on Wednesday. That pushes Tanner Scott into a setup role. Stewart and Edgardo Henriquez have been their highest-leverage righties of late. Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips could also factor into the late innings. They’ve been a slightly above-average bullpen overall but have a 4.73 ERA in July. Vesia, Henriquez and Will Klein have struggled to throw strikes of late.
It’s the relative weakness on an otherwise exceptional roster. The Dodgers are coasting to a division title and figure to push a couple starters (e.g. Emmet Sheehan, Justin Wrobleski, potentially Roki Sasaki) to the bullpen in October — assuming they get Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow back and/or trade for a playoff-caliber starter.
Irvin signed an offseason minor league deal and has been working as a starter at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He has a 3.58 ERA over 98 innings in the Pacific Coast League despite striking out 12% of opponents. Irvin hasn’t pitched in six days and will provide a length option for tonight’s bullpen game, which will be kicked off by Henriquez. It’d be Irvin’s first big league appearance in two years if he makes it into a game. He spent last year in Korea with the Doosan Bears. He’s out of options and would need to be designated for assignment for the Dodgers to take him off the roster.
McDermott came over from Baltimore in a DFA trade in April. The 27-year-old has pitched twice at the big league level, working 2 1/3 frames of two-run ball. McDermott has posted a 4.10 ERA across 26 1/3 innings with OKC. He has a huge 36% strikeout rate but has walked an untenable 18% of batters faced.
This is the final minor league option year for McDermott. The Dodgers can try to trade him until Monday and would otherwise need to place him on waivers. The swing-and-miss ability could get him a look from another team seeking bullpen depth.
