The Dodgers made a roster shuffle before Wednesday’s series finale against the Royals, recalling right-hander Landon Knack from Triple-A and sending right-hander Seth Halvorsen back to the minors.
Halvorsen had just made his Dodgers debut on Tuesday night and made it count. He came in and threw a scoreless 10th inning, leaving the ghost runner stranded and helping set up the Dodgers’ walk-off win over Kansas City. The fastball jumped off his hand, too - he touched 101.3 mph and averaged 100.7 mph, nearly 2 mph harder than he had been throwing with Colorado.
He had also been rolling in Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he posted 6.1 scoreless innings for the Comets after the trade. But even with that strong first impression, he was the one who got bumped when the Dodgers needed extra bullpen coverage for Wednesday’s game.
Manager Dave Roberts said the move was about protecting the staff for a night when several arms were unavailable. Halvorsen, who has options, became the odd man out and won’t be eligible to return for two weeks unless there’s an injury. Roberts also said Halvorsen will be back “at some point.”
Knack gets the call in his place, and he’s looking to reset after a rough stretch in limited big league work this season. In two appearances, he’s given up five runs over five innings.
On July 11 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he allowed three runs in three innings. On July 20 against the Philadelphia Phillies, he gave up two runs over two innings.
Knack began the season on the injured list with an oblique injury. Across parts of three seasons with the Dodgers, he owns a 4.33 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 116.1 innings.
Wednesday’s start goes to left-hander Eric Lauer, who is coming off his toughest outing since joining Los Angeles in May. Against the Chicago Cubs, he was tagged for six runs on 11 hits over four innings, and the Dodgers took their first loss in the 10 games he’s pitched for them this season.
Now Lauer is trying to steady things and give Los Angeles some length, with the bullpen already thinned out by likely absences from right-hander Evan Phillips and left-handers Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer. The Dodgers then open a four-game series with the MLB-best Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, and they won’t have another off day until next Thursday, Aug. 20.
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