The Dodgers made a pair of roster moves Wednesday, and the bigger surprise had nothing to do with the bullpen arm they were waiting on.
Left-hander Kris Bubic was activated from his minor league rehabilitation assignment, while right-hander Paul Gervase was sent to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding 26-man move. Bubic had been expected to return since Monday, when he joined the team in Cincinnati.
But Los Angeles also cleared room on the 40-man roster by designating first baseman/outfielder Ryan Ward for assignment. Ward, 28, had been the 2025 Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player and was added to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster a year ago during his breakout run. This year, though, his place in the organization had become harder to justify.
The Dodgers’ minor league outfield depth played a role, and the rapid rise of 21-year-old Josue De Paula made the squeeze even tighter. De Paula, the top prospect, stepped in as the Dodgers’ primary DH after Shohei Ohtani’s injury, which pushed Ward further out of the picture.
Ward’s production also dipped at Triple-A. Through Tuesday, he was hitting .248/.349/.429 with 18 home runs, a drop from the 36 he hit a year ago.
Bubic’s arrival comes after the Dodgers acquired him from the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 3, sending minor league pitcher Carlos Duran the other way. Since then, Bubic made six minor league appearances for Triple-A Oklahoma City, working 5.2 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
Before the trade, he had already logged nine appearances for Kansas City, posting a 3-2 record with a 4.11 ERA. The 29-year-old left-hander has spent parts of seven MLB seasons with the Royals, going 22-38 with a 4.14 ERA and 495 strikeouts in 522 innings.
Bubic made his first All-Star team in 2025, when he went 8-7 with a 2.55 ERA in 20 games. The Cupertino, California native was originally drafted by Kansas City in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Stanford University.
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