Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has shared regular updates on the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Edwin Díaz, Kiké Hernández and Will Smith over recent weeks, and Ben Casparius seemingly flew under the radar.
But the right-hander joined Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday night for the start of a rehab assignment. Snell, Hernández and Díaz also are in the midst of rehabs with the Comets.
Casparius threw 24 pitches (13 strikes) and retired two of five batters faced in the seventh inning. Casparius gave up an RBI double, struck out one batter and issued two walks. The game was his first appearance of any kind since pitching for the Dodgers on April 12.
The Dodgers put Casparius on the injured list the next day due to right shoulder inflammation and anticipated a lengthy rehab process. Casparius was transferred to the 60-day IL when Jonathan Hernández was signed on May 18, which made June 12 the earliest date he could be reinstated.
The 27-year-old presumably will be on a lengthy rehab assignment with Oklahoma City. For pitchers, that can span a maximum of 30 days.
From April 21-July 10, the Comets had at least one player from the Dodgers roster on a rehab assignment. The streak ended when Landon Knack was activated off the 15-day injured list July 11.
Casparius only pitched 4.2 innings before the Dodgers placed him on the IL. Casparius yielded a 9.64 ERA, 6.74 FIP and 2.14 WHIP in that small sample. Over his MLB career, Casparius has thrown 90.2 innings with a 4.67 ERA, 3.57 FIP and 1.35 WHIP while striking out 22.1% of hitters and walking 7.4%.
Dodgers rehab assignments
Blake Snell
Snell made a second start of his rehab assignment on Friday and threw 49 pitches over 2.2 innings. He allowed one run but more importantly made progress with building up.
“He’s working hard, he’s anxious to get back, but there’s some markers he needs to check,” Roberts said. “So it would be very helpful for him to get through three innings.”
Edwin Díaz
Díaz has pitched in six rehab games split across the Comets (two), Single-A Ontario (three) and Arizona Complex League Dodgers (one). He’s expected to make a final appearance with the Comets on Sunday and come off the injured list Wednesday.
Kiké Hernández
Hernández has hit safely in all six games of his rehab assignment thus far. He’s 7-for-21 with two doubles and one home run in that span.
Roberts said the plan is to activate Hernández when the Dodgers start their homestand on Tuesday.
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