Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Dennis Santana was scheduled to make his first career Major League start on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He never got the chance to do that though as after warming up in the bullpen he wound up being scratched from the game, with Daniel Hudson getting the start in his place.
While at first it was unknown if he was scratched due to any sort of injury as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts only said that he did not like the way Santana’s slider looked in the bullpen and opted to go with Hudson instead, Alanna Rizzo of SportsNet LA later reported that Santana is dealing with right lat soreness:
Right lat soreness is why Santana was removed.
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) June 7, 2018
With another bullpen game slated for Thursday, the Dodgers bullpen will continue to be taxed, which has been the case a lot in recent weeks. In the last nine games going into Thursday, Dodgers starters have only pitched 35 total innings. They have thrown four or fewer innings five times, which has caused the bullpen to cover 45 innings over that span.
The Dodgers called up a couple relievers in Edward Paredes and Pedro Baez to help out on Thursday, but Hudson is pitching for the third consecutive day, as was Scott Alexander, who was next out of the bullpen after Hudson.
Santana being injured will also have repercussions on the starting rotation as they currently only have three other healthy bodies. Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill could both be returning in the coming weeks, but until then they will have to continue to piece together their rotation.
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