The Los Angeles Dodgers began their final road trip of the season with Brock Stewart and Roki Sasaki joining the team from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
That had been planned after the pair of right-handers both pitched for the Comets in their final game of the year on Sunday. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had previously indicated Sasaki would not be activated off the 60-day injured list until Wednesday at the earliest.
The suggestion was Stewart would possibly be added to the bullpen for the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Not only did that fail to come to fruition, but it’s not clear if Stewart is going to return at all this year.
“Brock, we’re still kind of day-to-day right now,” Roberts said.
His comments came shortly after Stewart played catch in the outfield at Chase Field with Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes and a trainer watching.
Roberts did not specify when asked if Stewart is dealing with more right shoulder trouble.
“Just kind of workload, kind of making sure he feels good. Just some conversations with Brock, making sure he’s put in a position to feel good if he is activated,” Roberts said. “That’s no guarantee, so we feel just giving an extra day, we’ll have a little more information.”
Stewart has been on the 15-day injured list since the middle of August because of right shoulder inflammation. Treatment included multiple rounds of cortisone injections before he began to feel any relief.
Stewart made just four appearances after being traded to the Dodgers, allowing two runs in 3.2 innings pitched.
What a Brock Stewart injury would mean for Dodgers
The Dodgers already are thin on reliable right-handed relief pitchers for their postseason bullpen, and losing Stewart would further magnify that.
Sasaki could wind up filling that role, and the Dodgers also figure to heavily lean on Emmet Sheehan and potentially Ben Casparius.
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