The Los Angeles Dodgers reinstated Brusdar Graterol off the 10-day injured list but immediately optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City last Friday.
According to manager Dave Roberts, Graterol is fully healthy and went to OKC to get his pitches right and work on mechanics before rejoining the team.
“Brusdar was obviously a huge part of what we did last year. He is going to be a huge part of we’re going to do this year,” Roberts said.
“We just feel right now, where he’s at, it’s a finishing school. The arm is healthy, the ball is coming out but the slider is not as consistent as it needs to be to get Major League hitters out consistently. And the sinker is not commanded the way it needs to be.
“So I think that the option just allows for him to have a clear path to go out there and pitch regularly, get the sinker down in the zone and continue to work on that slider. When he does that, I expect to see him.”
After a 3.09 ERA and 1.16 walks per nine innings during his rookie season last year, Graterol struggled this season when healthy, although he only pitched in three games. However, in those games, he had a 13.50 BB/9 and allowed three runs while only getting four outs.
Roberts added some of Graterol’s early-season struggles were because he wasn’t able to throw in the offseason.
“I think that’s a big part of it. I think some of the things were out of Brusdar’s control and some things, to be quite frank, were in his control,” Roberts said. “But it’s where we’re at right now, and how do we go from here to there? This is what we feel is best for him and the Dodgers.”
“The bottom line is he’s got to go out there and pitch, pitch consistently, face competition, get guys out and execute pitches,” Roberts said. “Our guys consistently stay on top of the mechanics, but it’s still a combo of just going out there and getting consistent appearances.”
Dodgers bullpen gets relief
With Tony Gonsolin returning to face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday or Wednesday, the Dodgers will no longer need bullpen games as they return to a five-man rotation.
Despite the need for bullpen games over the past month, the Dodgers rank 26 out of 30 in relief innings with 191.2 innings pitched this season. When adding in the extra 10 innings David Price, Jimmy Nelson and Edwin Uceta have logged as openers, the Dodgers would rank 20th in reliever innings pitched.
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