Kyle Hurt has emerged as a budding Los Angeles Dodgers pitching prospect in recent seasons, profiling as a power arm with wipeout stuff.
Hurt’s rise last year included getting to make his MLB debut in September by making one appearance out of the Dodgers bullpen. The right-hander has appeared in four games this spring, with those split evenly between starts and being utilized as a reliever.
“With Kyle, he has the ability to go multiples but the ability to put him in there to be a bridge guy, we need to see it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said. “We pitched him a little bit out of the ‘pen last year. Wasn’t his best, but that’s baseball.”
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Hurt’s most recent appearance was an impressive performance in the Dodgers’ exhibition win against the Kiwoom Heroes. He finished with five strikeouts over 2.1 no-hit innings to finish out the win.
“Certainly we see him as a starter,” Roberts said after the game. “And with the three up and downs he had, his ability to be a neutral pitcher versus left, versus right, but I think with the construction of our roster, having that swing guy to potentially take down middle innings is of value. But also knowing he can obviously be a starter too.”
With Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City last season, Hurt made 10 appearances of four or more innings. He completed five innings in four of those.
On the season, Hurt posted a combined 14.87 strikeouts per nine innings with a .204 batting average allowed. The largest area of concern was his walk rate, which shortened outings and amounted to unnecessary traffic.
Kyle Hurt likely on Dodgers Opening Day roster
Hurt has filled multiple roles since joining the Dodgers organization, and although he still projects as a starter, the most immediate impact and opportunity is coming out of the bullpen.
While acknowledging the Dodgers consider Hurt a starting pitcher, Roberts indicated the 25-year-old is expected to be among the relief pitchers included on their Opening Day roster for the Seoul Series.
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