The Los Angeles Dodgers have reinstated Rich Hill from the 10-day disabled list and optioned Brock Stewart back to Triple-A Oklahoma City ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
Hill missed almost a month of action with a cracked fingernail that wound up getting infected. He is set to take the mound against Arizona on Tuesday though after being scratched from his original return date on Sunday against the San Diego Padres.
Hill has made three starts so far this season, going 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA, 5.03 FIP and 1.60 WHIP while striking out 16 and walking seven in 15 innings of work.
The last start he made was against Arizona on April 14, and he struggled to the tune of seven hits and seven runs in five innings, suffering the loss at Chase Field.
Finger injuries are not new to Hill, as he dealt with blisters in both 2016 and 2017 that often occurred even after he was deemed healthy enough to pitch, so that will be something to keep an eye on this time around as well.
Stewart has been building up his frequent flier miles early this season, already being called up and optioned back to Oklahoma City twice in the last two weeks.
He made one appearance out of the bullpen in the Mexico Series over the weekend, tossing a scoreless inning against the Padres on Sunday.
With two starters in Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu on the disabled list, and Hill being a bit of a question mark, Stewart would likely be next in line to make starts if any more injuries were to occur in the near future.
