The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Scott Alexander on the 10-day injured list with left forearm inflammation and recalled Caleb Ferguson from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Alexander’s IL stint is retroactive to June 8.
Ferguson’s last appearance came three days prior to that, when he entered in the 11th inning of a tie game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Alexander promptly gave up a leadoff triple, issued an intentional walk, then allowed an RBI single in the Dodgers’ walk-off loss.
The defeat snapped their season-best seven-game winning streak. Alexander, a noted ground-ball pitcher, attributed his ongoing struggles this season to his pitches being left up in the zone.
He endured similar trouble last year and benefitted from a stint with Oklahoma City. He stopped short of saying the same move was required to get back on track this season.
Ferguson rejoins the Dodgers after recovering from a mild oblique strain and finding his footing with the club’s top Minor League affiliate. In five outings with OKC, he allowed just two hits over six scoreless innings, collecting 11 strikeouts against two walks.
Ferguson is 0-1 with a 5.94 ERA, 6.86 FIP and 1.80 WHIP over 17 games (one start) with the Dodgers. Ferguson began the season with 6.1 scoreless innings across seven appearances before beginning to struggle.
His last appearance before being placed on the injured list at the end of April was particularly rocky. Ferguson failed to retire any batters faced and exited with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t certain if Ferguson may have been concealing his oblique trouble and thus not been as effective. The left-hander logged a combined 1.2 scoreless innings upon returning in May, but then allowed three runs in each of his next two outings.
With Tony Cingrani set to miss the remainder of the 2019 season after undergoing shoulder surgery, Roberts will need one of Alexander or Ferguson to emerge as a viable left-handed relief pitcher. Of course, the Dodgers could just as well seek one out on the trade market.
