UPDATE (July 25, 12:05 p.m. PT): The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their trade for Tyler White, sending Andre Scrubb to the Houston Astros.
Essentially two weeks after David Freese, A.J. Pollock and Corey Seager returned, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers their full complement of position players available, the team is suddenly dealing with a rash of injuries.
Chris Taylor suffered a fractured left forearm during the first series after the All-Star break, and estimates he will be sidelined four to six weeks. Taylor did not update that timetable but recently said his recovery is going well.
Meanwhile, Kiké Hernandez was removed from Wednesday’s game due to left hand soreness. X-rays were negative, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his club’s loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he wasn’t quite sure of Hernandez’s availability moving forward.
Although the Dodgers have been linked to several relief pitchers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, their first move is to acquire first baseman Tyler White from the Houston Astros in exchange for 2016 MLB Draft pick Andre Scrubb, according to Mark Feisand of MLB.com:
Tyler White has been traded from the Astros to the Dodgers for minor league RHP Andre Scrubb, per source. @jakemkaplan had White to Dodgers first.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 25, 2019
The Astros designated White for assignment last week in a corresponding move to calling up Jose Urquidy from Triple-A Round Rock. The 28-year-old is out of Minor League options.
White batted .225/.320/.330 with 14 doubles, three home runs and 21 RBI in 71 games for the Astros this season. He had been with the team since appearing in a career-high 85 games.
White’s arrival will give the Dodgers a right-handed option to spell Max Muncy and Joc Pederson at first base. Although Freese has filled that role, the club remains mindful of his workload and keeping him healthy for a likely postseason berth.
Furthermore, with White, it provides a bit more flexibility to move Muncy to second in the event Hernandez is unavailable for any stretch.
Scrubb, who is in his first season with Double-A Tulsa, went 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 29 games (two starts).
The reported trade is the second in recent memory between the Astros and Dodgers. In 2016, L.A. sent Yordan Alvarez, at the time a little-known prospect, to Houston in exchange for Josh Fields. The trade has since blossomed into one that heavily went in the Astros’ favor.
