The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their trade of pitching prospect Andre Scrubb to the Houston Astros in exchange for first baseman Tyler White.
White was designated for assignment by the Astros this past week and is out of Minor League options. Thus, he figures to at least receive some opportunities with the Dodgers.
The trade could be a precursor to Kiké Hernandez potentially being placed on the 10-day injured list after suffering a hand injury during Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hernandez underwent X-rays, which were negative, but the Dodgers weren’t yet sure of his availability moving forward.
In 71 games for the Astros this season, White hit just .225/.320/.330 with three home runs and 21 RBI. He had a bit of a breakout season in 2018, batting .276/.354/.533 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI in 66 games.
The Dodgers have struggled a bit against left-handed pitching this season, and White has a career .780 on-base plus slugging percentage against southpaws. However, he hasn’t fared quite as well against left-handers this year.
White is not yet arbitration-eligible, so the Dodgers have the ability to keep him under team control until 2024 if they choose to do so.
Scrubb was drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round in the 2016 Draft out of High Point University in North Carolina. In 29 games (two starts) with Double-A Tulsa this season, the right-hander posted a 2.45 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with 56 strikeouts and 23 walks in 47.2 total innings.
The 24-year-old was eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter if the Dodgers didn’t add him to the 40-man roster. He didn’t appear to be a likely candidate to get protected from the Rule 5 Draft, which may have been a factor in the trade.
While White fills a need for the Dodgers, it is still clear that they need to bolster their bullpen before the July 31 trade deadline, so president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his staff are likely far from being done making deals.
