Will Venable cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City, keeping the veteran outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He had more than the requisite three-years’ Major League service time to refuse such assignment and elect for free agency.
Although Venable serves as depth, he’s currently not on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. Los Angeles signed Venable on June 14 — four days after he opted of a Minor League contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
He hit .205/.304/.307 with seven doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs over 41 games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Venable had one hit (double), one hit by pitch and three strikeouts in 11 plate appearances over six games with the Dodgers.
He gave the Dodgers’ short bench their lone left-handed bat during that span. Along with serving as a pinch-hitter, Venable played five games in right field.
The 33 year old was designated for assignment on Friday when the Dodgers called up Nick Tepesch for a spot start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tepesch was subsequently designated for assignment the following day, with newly acquired Chris Taylor joining the club.
Prior to this season, Venable hit .251/.317/.406 with 81 home runs and 307 RBIs over parts of eight seasons with the San Diego Padres and Rangers.
