The Los Angeles Dodgers reinstated Andrew Heaney from the 10-day injured list and optioned Reyes Moronta to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday.
Heaney returns for a start in the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians. He had been out since April 20 due to left shoulder trouble. Prior to going on the IL, Heaney tossed 10.1 scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts over two starts.
After weeks of not throwing, Heaney eventually built up to beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Including one outing with Double-A Tulsa, the left-hander went 0-1 with a 0.73 ERA, 0.57 WHIP and held opponents to a .143 batting average over three starts.
Heaney had been on a five-day schedule while completing the rehab assignment and last pitched on June 14 for the Drillers.
“He’s six (innings) and 90 (pitches), so it’s kind of a full outing for him,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Heaney’s start against the Guardians.
Moronta heads back to Oklahoma City five days after getting recalled as the corresponding roster move to Michael Grove being sent down. Moronta only appeared in one game during his latest stint with the Dodgers, which came in the form of a perfect inning on Saturday.
He’s pitched to a 2.00 ERA over eight appearances for L.A.
Impending Dodgers roster changes
Activating Heaney was the first of what’s expected to be multiple changes on the Dodgers roster. Come Monday, MLB is requiring all teams to comply with a rule that doesn’t allow for more than 13 pitchers on an active roster.
While the Dodgers will trim from their stable of relief pitchers in order to pare down the roster, Roberts doesn’t anticipate too much of an impact.
“I don’t think it changes relief pitcher usage,” he said. “It’ll change the construction of our ‘pen as far as one less or actually in this case, it’s going to be two or three less guys.”
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