After walking away from an agreed upon trade for Arolids Chapman, the Los Angeles Dodgers largely returned the same crop of relievers this season. Joe Blanton and Louis Coleman were the lone additions, and the two have outperformed expectations.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the organization expected the incumbent relief pitchers to take a step forward in their progression. Among those that applied to Yimi Garcia, who appeared in 59 games and pitched to 3.34 ERA last season.
However, Garcia was lost early in the year to a biceps injury, suffered April 22 in what was his ninth relief appearance this season. He was immediately placed on the 15-day disabled list, and transferred to the 60-day DL in May.
After a slow recovery the right-hander began a rehab assignment in mid-July. That has since been halted. “Yimi is out on rehab and there was a little something with his knee that came up,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said.
“So, he is dealing with a sore knee. He is still on rehab and I don’t know the next time he is going to pitch.” Garcia last appeared in a game for Double-A Tulsa on July 29. He started a game for the Arizona League Dodgers on July 16 before advancing to High-A Rancho Cucamonga.
The 25-year-old appeared in three games with the Quakes, then two with the Drillers. Garcia owns 3.24 ERA, 2.89 FIP and 1.20 WHIP in 8.1 innings pitched over nine games with the Dodgers this season.
Although it wasn’t with a splashy trade, Los Angeles added to their bullpen at the non-waiver deadline by acquiring Jesse Chavez from the Toronto Blue Jays and Josh Fields from the Houston Astros.
At this stage it’s unclear if Garcia will manage to make a return this season. Chris Hatcher, who suffered an oblique strain and is on the 60-day DL, was essentially ruled out for the remainder of the year by Roberts.
