One week removed from acquiring relievers Dylan Floro and Zach Neal in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued tinkering with their bullpen by claiming left-hander Zac Rosscup off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.
Rosscup is expected to join the Dodgers for the Freeway Series and fill the void of fellow southpaw Edward Paredes, who was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Rosscup hasn’t yet appeared at the Major League level this season, but thrived in limited action with the Rockies’ top Minor League affiliate. In 10 games with Triple-A Albuquerque, the 30-year-old posted a minusucule 1.08 ERA over 8.1 innings pitched.
Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi is intrigued by the addition of Rosscup and believes his arsenal will play well out of the bullpen, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“He’s another guy who kind of has a sneaky heater,” Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi said. “He’s got some funk (in his delivery). He’s got a shorter arm stroke and a little bit of a three-quarters slot, which is tough for lefties to pick up. He’s 92-94 (mph). He’s got a good cutter-slider in the high 80s. He throws a split as well in the mid-80s. So he’s got some different weapons plus he’s got some velocity and some deception in his delivery. He’s always missed bats in the minor leagues. With Tony hurt and (Edward) Paredes just going down, we were sort of looking for a bit of a flyer to take on a guy from the left side. That’s an area where we feel we can improve our depth and options.”
It makes sense for the Dodgers to take a flier on Rosscup, given the current state of the club’s left-handed depth. As Zaidi notes, Cingrani is currently recovering from a rotator cuff strain while Paredes needs to clear through waivers to remain in the organization.
Rosscup looks to provide a boost in his first Major League action since the 2017 season, where he split time with both the Chicago Cubs and Rockies. In 10 games, he compiled a 4.70 ERA, 3.94 FIP and 1.17 WHIP across 7.2 innings pitched with 10 strikeouts and no walks.
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