The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled Kyle Hurt from Triple-A Oklahoma City to add him on their roster as a permitted 27th player for the nightcap of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees.
A split doubleheader was scheduled due to Saturday’s game getting postponed because of inclement weather in the area. The Dodgers won the early contest behind a complete game from Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
More so than because of the doubleheader, Shohei Ohtani’s continued left knee irritation put the Dodgers in position of needing a bullpen game. Emmet Sheehan conceivably could have started one of the two games in the twin bill, but he was pushed back to Monday in order to help the Dodgers plan to fill Ohtani’s spot in the rotation.
Hurt originally joined the Dodgers roster on April 13 as the corresponding move to Ben Casparius landing on the 15-day injured list. He remained with the team until July 11, when the Dodgers optioned Hurt to Oklahoma City and recalled Landon Knack.
Hurt now is part of a rested group of relief pitchers for a planned bullpen game. Will Klein is filling an opener role for the third time this season. He threw two scoreless innings as a starter on May 15, and allowed one run in one frame on June 22.
Kyle Hurt looking to get on track
One of the reasons behind the Dodgers sending Hurt back to Oklahoma City earlier this month was his recent struggles. The right-hander gave up a season-high four runs to the San Diego Padres on July 5, and two runs when he started in a bullpen game for the Dodgers five days later.
“I’m kind of doing the hard part, getting 0-2, 1-2 on guys, and just not executing and getting pitches where I need to get them,” Hurt said after the Dodgers’ loss. “I’m just kind of leaving things over the plate, getting into deep counts. Those deep counts can lead to walks, and I just got to be better at finishing guys. Just put them away when I’m ahead. So that’s that’s about it.”
The 28-year-old also downplayed the difficulty of looking to have success with a bullpen game.
“It’s not really a wild card. I mean, it’s a bullpen game, we’re all going to go out there and do our job,” Hurt said. “We’re expected to go out there when our name is called to get those outs.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
