The Dodgers announced they’ve placed left-hander Eric Lauer on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. Blake Treinen replaces him on the pitching staff, as the veteran reliever was reinstated from the 60-day IL. Will Klein has been transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot for Treinen.
Lauer was knocked around by the Cardinals yesterday, giving up seven runs on eight hits (including two homers) over three innings. There wasn’t anything notably off with his velocity but he apparently experienced some amount of elbow discomfort during or after that appearance. That was Lauer’s return to the rotation. The Dodgers had bumped him to the bullpen with Tyler Glasnow back from injury, but Roki Sasaki’s blister reopened a spot in the starting five.
The Dodgers will again need someone to step into that role. Yesterday kicked off a stretch of nine straight game days. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal will get the final two games of the St. Louis series. The Dodgers haven’t announced their rotation for this weekend’s series against Washington. Glasnow and Blake Snell will presumably get two of those games with the other move to be determined.
Justin Wrobleski returned from a minimal IL stay yesterday after battling forearm inflammation. The Dodgers moved him to relief to prepare for his expected postseason role. Wrobleski was also hit around in the four starts preceding his injured list placement and didn’t look especially sharp in relief yesterday, allowing three runs in two innings. Assuming the Dodgers want to keep him in the bullpen, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic suggests Emmet Sheehan is likely to be recalled for at least a spot start. Sheehan was optioned on August 21 and can’t rejoin the MLB team until Saturday unless he’s directly replacing someone going on the injured list.
The Dodgers will carry an extra reliever for the intervening few games. Treinen has been down since the middle of June with elbow inflammation. The sinkerballer had fired 23 innings of 3.52 ERA ball before the injury. Treinen looked sharp over a six-game rehab stint with Triple-A Oklahoma City and could play a significant role in October. High-leverage relief, especially from the right side, is perhaps the biggest weak point on the roster.
Klein was part of that group until he went on the injured list at the beginning of August with what the team called elbow discomfort. The 26-year-old revealed last week that he was diagnosed with bone chips that may eventually require surgery but would go for non-surgical treatment for now to hopefully factor into the playoff run. This transfer officially rules Klein out for the rest of the regular season schedule. He would be eligible to return in the postseason if the Dodgers are comfortable carrying him without any real opportunity to rehab in a game setting.
