The Los Angeles Dodgers officially reinstated Hyun-Jin Ryu from the 60-day disabled list on Thursday. In corresponding move to clear room on the active and 40-man rosters, Will Venable was designated for assignment.
That leaves the Dodgers with a three-man bench heading into their series with the San Diego Padres. Ryu starts Thursday night in his first outing in a Major League game since Oct. 6, 2014, when he faced the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Ryu made two starts with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and one with Triple-A Oklahoma City in May, then had his clock reset after suffering a setback that came as a result of increasing his workload.
He returned to make five starts in June; three with the Quakes and two for the OKC Dodgers. However, one of the Triple-A outings was cut short at 1.2 innings, because of a rain delay. Ryu threw a combined 18.2 innings, allowed 13 runs (12 earned) and had 17 strikeouts in the five outings.
Ryu is a combined 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA, 2.97 FIP and 1.19 WHIP over two seasons with the Dodgers. This marks the second time Venable has been DFA’d by the Dodgers since he signed with the club on June 14.
The veteran outfielder had one hit (double), one hit by pitch and three strikeouts in 11 plate appearances over six games before he was removed from the 40-man roster. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Venable rejoined the Dodgers on July 1 when Joc Pederson was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Venable went 1-for-8 with two strikeouts in his last six games (one start) with the club. The Dodgers also swapped relievers on Thursday, recalling Carlos Frias and sending Luis Avilan back to Oklahoma City.
