Duke (not Snider) broke today’s story last night. Darien Nunez is a 28-year-old, 6′ 2″ 205-pound left-handed reliever for the OKC Dodgers. He started the season with Tulsa, pitching one scoreless inning and then moving to OKC where he has compiled 8.1 scoreless innings and struck out 12 while allowing one hit! So who is this guy? He is not just another “flash in the pan”… let me assure you.
AA Debut – May 6, 2021
Darien fled Cuba in 2015 and spent three years traveling, making his way to the USA. The Dodgers signed him and finally, he made his debut in 2018 at the DSL, Ogden, Arizona, and ultimately, Great Lakes where he pitched 30 innings and struck out 46, with a 2.23 ERA. He went back to Ogden in early 2019 to work on some things and then finished the season at RC, where he pitched 25 innings, allowing 17 hits and striking out 43 with a 1.75 ERA.
In 2020, the world went COVID-19 and he fell off the radar. Then, 2021 happened and as I mentioned earlier, he is now in OKC. He has always been a reliever for the Dodgers and they are bringing him along slowly, but his stuff begs for major league hitters. His fastball is in the mid -90’s and he has a curve and a slider that are plus pitches, but it seems to me that his big pitch is his changeup, which looks just like his fastball. I have seen him twice and am “jaw-dropping” impressed!
He is learning English, but is still pretty sketchy. Over parts of three seasons he is 4-2 with 4 saves, a 1.96 ERA. He has pitched 78 innings and struck out 127, with 28 walks. Since he moved up to OKC, his has walked 2 in 8.1 IP and according to people close to the team, he is trusting his pitches and his control (which is not bad) is getting even better. Since he is not on the 40-man, he will not likely be brought up anytime soon, but if he keeps this up, the Dodgers will not be able to ignore him. You will notice that he has a clean, powerful, uncomplicated delivery, and pitches quickly…. and six years of control. I guarantee he is in Andrew Friedman’s Plan as a future closer!
From 2019
2018 Interview with Darien
Come on, Man!
Many of you are trying to give Andrew Friedman advice as to acquire bullpen help when you had no idea who Darien Nunez even was. You are playing checkers or maybe tidily-winks, while he is playing chess. Not all of his moves pan out, but haven’t you learned that he has a lot more information than you do? Maybe signing Albert Pujols will not work out, but so far it has. Albert got one of the two hits last night off MadBum *whom it is always a pleasure to beat) and drove in 1/3 of the Dodgers runs. And… why even question why he acquired Yoshi T (I can’t even spell Tsutsugo)? We have no clue. Max Muncy was ridiculed, so was Sheldon Noisy, as was Tyler White (well, that did not work out), but you sometimes have to kiss a lot of frogs to find the prince. Let it play out. Past performance is indicative of NOTHING!
Monday’s Games
- Rancho Cucamonga did not lose because they did not play.
- Great Lakes was idle.
- Tulsa did not play.
- OKC beat the Slime Cats 7-6, pulling their record to 3-8. Omar Estevez (playing CF), Zach Reks, and Andy Burns each had 3 hits. Asuaje and Burnes each had a double and FedEx hit his 1st HR. Austin Bibens-Dirkx started and was hit like Tommy Lasorda in Batting Practice. He gave up 5 runs in 4 IP. In what can be called “progress” Phil Bickford struck out the side in his 1 IP.n 32-year old Kevin Quackenbush got his 2nd save with a 1-2-3 9th inning. He has not been scored upon this year.
- The LA Dodgers beat the Arizona D-Bags 3-1. Striker (although he could have been called Walker last night) got the win and lowered his ERA to 2.98. He seems to be settling in as we reach the end of May. Kenley got his 8th save and lowered his ERA to a Kenley-esque 1.54. Gavin Lux and Will Smith both had 2 hits – Smith with a HR and a Double and Lux with a single and a double. Other than the run-scoring single by Pujols, that has all the hits, but it was enough to win the game.
What does Albert Pujols bring to the table? How about just poking the ball through the hole at SS to score Mookie from 3B. That play was better than a thousand words. When you have a chance to score the runner from 3B, you do it. Forget the long ball. Take notes, kids! This is what HOF’ers do!
Hopefully some of The Machine’s teammates took note of the 2 out RBI single with a shortened swing to get the job done. Dodgers need a lot more of that, even from the veterans. I’m looking at you Redturn.
Never heard of the guy.
Great game last night. Sometimes I’m much more engaged in these low scoring pitcher’s duals that I am with games that feature a lot of scoring. Bueller was exceptional and the pen was a little shaky, but got the job done with a smooth Lux, Taylor, Muncy double play to end the game.
It was good to see immediate returns with an Albert Pujols RBI and Gavin Lux with a couple of hits (one off a lefty no less). I was not a fan of the Pujols signing and while his first game had some feel good moments, I remain sceptical. At the same time, I give AF credit for recognizing that the guys he had weren’t getting the job done and pulling the trigger on a couple of moves to try and help the team. It must have been a hard decision to jump on the Albert signing instead of just bringing up Revelo.
Don’t look now, but the Dodgers are 5 out of their last 6. I like that Doc is stretching out the starters, letting them pitch into the 7th inning. Urias, Kershaw and Bauer are scheduled to finish out the D-Bags series, so it looks like another bullpen game is coming just in time to open the Giants series in San Francisco. It sure would be nice to enter the series following a four game sweep. Should we dare to dream?
I couldn’t see the game, but picked up some highlights and, yeah, it was a good game. There is some hope. Maybe a true gold glove SS makes that play that Lux muffed a little, I was still impressed with his athleticism and range at SS.
Buehler’s curve looked really sharp.
It was, but it was also not landing for strikes. And he totally lost control for 3 hitters, loading the bases on walks. Prior came out and he settled down to get out of a huge jam. But walks are still one of the big bugaboos on this team. Gonzalez walked one and he scored the D-Backs only run and because of Gonzalez ineffectiveness Kenley had to do a 4 out save. And he was in trouble in the 9th because of a walk. The game ending DP saved him. Pujols just missed hitting one out on the first pitch he saw. He was just a little off. He got his ribbie, then struck out on a borderline call and just missed hitting one in his last at bat. But he was talking to all of the players on the bench, and after Buehler’s near disaster of an inning, he was seen talking to him before his at bat. It might be noted that after that little chat, Buehler retired 11 in a row. Maybe Ol Al has a future as a pitching coach.
Nice write up Mark. It’s nice to hear about future Dodgers that we were not aware of. Nunez looks like a keeper with great potential. You never have enough hard throwing lefties.
Yes, Andrew Friedman may be playing chess, but with broken pieces. Far too many pawns are swinging and missing.
I was wondering if some of these players might improve as they get older — maybe they will, but not today. No doubt the reasons for the additions. Plus Albert Pujols can still hit lefties.
Gavin Lux continues to look better at the plate. RBI single in the eighth a good sign, two hits in the game. Still believe there is a lot of talent in there trying to break out. Smith looks better with each game. They need his bat, his power.
Signing Albert Pujols will work out just fine. Not exactly like the team is bursting at the seams with role players stepping up, particularly right handed bats.
Another month or so maybe we can get a good assessment where the Dodgers are in the pipeline. Looks a little sketchy right now. Thanks for tracking it Mark.
Actually, past performance is pretty important. As Dodgerrick is fond of saying, “the best predictor of future performance is past performance,” or something along those lines. Although there are some obvious caveats to that, otherwise if I was the GM I’d sign Pete Rose because he’s a career .300 hitter.
Glad that Big Al got a hit of Mad Bum and drove in a run, but let’s not delude ourselves that this was anything but a desperation signing by AF. Pujols can’t leg out a ground rule double at this point. If his bat manages to make contact with a ball and a liner splits the gap and goes to the wall, he might still beat the throw at first, but it’ll be close. Pujols has not had a better than average offensive season since 2016 and his defense stinks.
Rios was supposed to be the guy to spell Muncy at 1rst. Rios had 60 plate appearances, hit a whopping .078, struck out 30% of the time and had a wRC+ of 17 (remember, 100 is league average). Now he’s out for the season.
Noisy and CT3 could’ve been guys to fill in at 2nd while Lux fills in at SS, but CT3 is injured and Noisy has hit .178, struck out 37% of the time and has a wRC+ of 46.
Muncy has always had pretty good splits against lefties, so he wasn’t in any dire need of being platooned, but he’s faltered a little this year against LHP, hitting just .205 with one HR. If the Dodgers are at full strength and have CT3, Bellinger and McKinstry back, I would prefer Bellinger spot Muncy at 1rst, but he has his own issues against LHP and I’m not all that confident that he can figure out his swing and get back to being the Bellinger of the first half of 2019.
So, there was a need to have a right hand power bat fill in for Muncy at 1rst, and Pujols makes sense from that perspective, but, even though it might be necessary, it’s still smacks of desperation. This is the first time ever in AF’s tenure as Dodger GM that, IMO, he has made a move out of desperation. I don’t even think making a trade for a guy makes sense either right now because the Dodger system is showing itself to be a little thin. I don’t think AF wants to empty the system any more.
AF had a presser and was asked at length about the Pujols signing. Normally, I like AF when he talks to the press. He’s usually pretty candid. This time he just sounded vague and dissembling, and was obviously uncomfortable stating the obvious – that the Dodgers are desperate right now because they’ve either had key players get injured or the bench players they hoped would perform flop terribly.
Not a lot to disagree with here. The Dodger’s system looks a bit thin right now, bet there’s still a lot of arms in the minors you can deal from. Barnes or Ruiz can be dealt to teams desperate for catching. I don’t think the cupboards are bare, I just think you have to dig a little to find something good to eat.
Which past performance should we look at? With Pujols, we have to look pretty far back to see that HOF’er, but his expected weighted OPS this year is a sign of life. We’ll see how this works out, but a start against lefties and a bench bat doesn’t seem to be an unreasonable role for him.
Tsutsugo? In the past disjointed year and this year, he looks like a flop. But, he was a killer in Japan just a couple of years ago and he’s just 29 years old. It’s worth a flier.
Belli had a 982 OPS against left handed pitching in 2019 and has a career OPS vs. LHP of 830. Muncy has a career OPS of 849 against lefties. So, it doesn’t really do a ton of good to have Albert take over against lefties unless he really starts to mash against them, or unless you’re going to move Muncy to second. Yes, you can easily have Belli play 1st, but you would be sorely missing his glove in CF. Statistically, it makes sense to sit Lux against lefties, have CT3 play SS, Muncy at 2B, Albert at 1B and Cody in CF. For a month or so until Seager is back full time. By then, Albert will have had his audition, then we’ll need to adjust. 1-4 every night isn’t going to cut it.
1-4 every night won’t cut it? Considering Pujols won’t be playing every night I’ll take that all day long when he does. One RBI, two well hit balls to the OF, leadership and respect. Yeah, that certainly exceeds the shit show we’re getting from Neuse, Raley, and Peters. Maybe, some players will observe how a future HOF player will make contact and produce a simple ground ball and drive in a man on third. As supposed to trying to hit a HR and not making any contact and not moving the runners along.
Of course, getting back our starting roster from opening day will certainly get things back on track. There’s a lot of talent missing right now and the position player depth has proved to be weak. With all the pitching talent in the system I would think AF and staff would concentrate on slugging outfielders in the upcoming draft. I great to see the turnaround in Matt Beaty. I don’t what happened when was sent down, but he came back the player we saw in 2019.
1-4 every night won’t cut it? Yep. When Belli and Seags are back in the lineup and CT3 and ZMack are utility players it would be hard to imagine sitting those guys to get playing time for Albert if he’s producing at a 1-4 clip. I can see sitting Lux against a lefty, or getting Turner a day off. But, would you rather have CT3 or ZMack taking those AB’s, or Albert? If Albert is averaging 1 hit per start, I would rather have ZMack or CT3.
Conversely, I was impressed that he sat for two weeks and squared up a ball in most of his plate appearances in his first game back. He seems very excited to be on the Dodgers with a chance to win and the guys on the team seem excited to have him there. I’m on the fence and will let this play out. But, I stand by the statement that 1-4 isn’t going to cut it.
I’ll take .250. The League average this year is about .235.
There are some arms in the system, yeah, but I think the AF master plan is to always be having players, especially pitchers, coming up in the system to eventually form part of the MLB roster core. Either that, or, having built a surplus, you deal from a position of strength to shore up weakness in the trade market. The Puig deal was a great example of that. He saw an opportunity to replenish the system, then later flipped on of the assets to land Betts. A loaded farm is like cash reserves to a corporation. It’s essential to the long term health and viability of the organization.
I think having those potential arms down there is important if you eventually plan to replace Kershaw or Bauer, or maybe Beuhler or Urias if they are too expensive when the bill keep them comes due.
AF has completely rewritten the usual script of boom-then-bust cycles where a team goes all in and is competitive, then implodes and rebuilds after razing to the foundation. I think that master plan will start to get tested.
Pujols hasn’t had a wRC+ over 100 since 2016.
Sure beats O for4 especially when you drive in a run I’ll take that over these other Not ready for prime time players that they have been putting in there thank you very Much, Albert
Nice informative article! I admit, I also don’t recall hearing the name Darien Nunez before either.
Where would we be without Bauer right now? So far he’s earned every penny of that 40 mil. We need Mookie to do the same right now!
Walks by the pitching staff are a problem that seems to always be exacerbated by the shift. Bear mentioned the walk by Gonzo, but failed to mention that the shift allowed another runner in the same inning. I hardly ever recall watching a game and thinking to myself, wow the shift really saved them from big inning. But, it seems almost nightly that they give up a shift hit. It also seems that we stubbornly hit into the opposing shift quite often. It seems that other teams are adjusting to it, but we are not.
My opinion, which matters as much as a hill of beans is simply that Raley, Nuese, and Peters are not ready for prime time yet. Nuese has 2 dingers but not much else. Raley has not even had what I would call a quality at bat in weeks. Peters is just over matched, but he has good range in the outfield and is a much better defensive option than Raley. They miss McKinstry for sure. Ravelo?? Guy has not shown that much when he has had an opportunity in the big’s. Souza had some success, but has not been the same player for a few years now. AAA talent is thin to say the least. Maybe 1 or 2 guys who might have some upside. I think any help they might need will only be found by players coming back from the IL or a trade. Lets see what Mr. Tsutsugo might offer.
I mentioned Ravelo yesterday, not because I think he’s the ultimate answer, but because he couldn’t do any worse than Raley/Peters/Neuse.
He’s had a total of 74 MLB at bats, which is barely 3 weeks worth for a regular player and, yes, he was lousy, but the three guys I mentioned above haven’t been any better and the season is now 6 weeks old.
Maybe Pujols and Yoshi will fill the gap so this probably isn’t even worth the discussion, but if it were me, I would send down Peters or Raley today and bring up Ravelo.
These were his combined stats at AAA Memphis for 2018/2019:
.305/.380/.480/.870
Problem is he is not on the 40 man roster, so who do you dump? Also he is mainly a 1st baseman. With Pujols now on the roster the chances this 29 year old who has marginal power, is called up are about as unlikely as me being named manager.
We certainly don’t need a first baseman now with Max, Pujols and Yoshi all capable of playing there. I was thinking more of someone with a better chance of success in the outfield, but you’re right about the 40-man situation. I guess we could always DFA Mookie.
Good luck with your new position as manager. I’m sure you’ll do a fine job, but look out for this crowd, they’ll be really tough on you.
Fire Bear! He can’t manage a bullpen!!!
SHeesh Cassidy, I haven’t even put on my uni yet!
Hey Bear, I’m available as your bench coach early next week.
#1 in the National League in run differential.
#1 in the National League in team pitching OPS.
#2 in the National League in team batting OPS.
Yet we are tied with the Cardinals for 3rd best record in the National League.
How do we NOT have the best record in the National League?
Injuries, a really bad 20 game stretch contributed also. This is not the team they expected to have. But the rest will come back to the pack unless you honestly believe the Giants are better.
Horrible record in one run games.
Horrible record in extras.
Big names and lengthy stays on the IL including 5/8 of the bullpen, 2/3 of the outfield, 2 key bench pieces, a star SS and an Ace in training.
Fun game. last night and not just because we won, Albert added a dose of energy, it seemed to me. I was luke warm to his signing but he brings a bat, intangibles and was practically free. I don’t see this as desperation at all. I see it as AF trying to help a team struggling with injuries and replacements not getting it done. Who else could be brought up?
* I may like Muncy at 2nd more than I anticipated. I’ve never been impressed with him there but it wasn’t in the current circumstances. He’s certainly improved as a first baseman and may be fine at 2nd to allow Albert to play against some lefties. It’s not like we’re stealing PT from a hot prospect at 2nd.
* Great visit by Prior. Go to slider and back in sync. He may have also suggested that he slow down a notch or 2, The Curve was thrown like his hair’s on fire. Nothing really needs to go 100 mph before foot strike and he was rushing it like crazy, outrunning his arm. He completely turned it around and retired the last 11 when he stopped rushing. Nice adjusting on the fly.
* I too was pleased to see Doc decide to extend Striker for 7, even passing up a chance to pinch hit for him with runners on. I like the decision and would rather see him on the mound than any reliever. I understand it’s a long season and pitcher’s health is foremost. I also believe in building up are strength with increasing pitch counts as the season moves along. As I’ve said previously, I’m not convinced that 100 pitches is the magic number for every pitcher.
* Mad-Bum is such an ass hole
* DJ Peters is a mystery. If I was his hitting coach, I wouldn’t know what to tell him. I watched him frame by frame last night during his 2 swing strikeouts. His head isn’t great but he seems balanced and the swing looks good. He just misses the ball. I had kids do that and had parents get the kid’s eyes checked. I’m sure that’s been done. He has 8 K’s in 12 ABs. And it’s not like he’s missing pitches on the black. He swings right through center cut fastballs.
* So DJ must have been better someplace to make the show. I looked at his minor league stats and he really hasn’t hit well over A-ball. And he’s no stranger to whiffs. In 1723 minor league AB’s he has 565 K’s. Thats 33% strikeout rate. So, he’s Joey Gallo? Not really. He has 92 homers. 5% homer rate. I really am a fan of this kid and he’s only 25. It appears he’s just not ready and forced to try to learn to hit big league pitching, in the big leagues. But the swings and misses on center-cut fastballs makes me wonder.
* Orel, leaving no cerebral stone unturned, last night said that with the lights and shadows a hitter might see the catcher move in or out. And sometimes “hitters can hear the catcher move”. I never acquired the knack for hearing whether a catcher moved in or out. That’s some skill.
* Can Lux and Striker get those bun huggers just one size bigger?
” I don’t see this as desperation at all. I see it as AF trying to help a team struggling with injuries and replacements not getting it done. Who else could be brought up?”
Not saying this wasn’t a sensible move under the circumstances, but disastrous circumstances have created desperation.
A month ago people were talking about the Dodgers being one of the greatest of all time and brimming with talent and depth at every position. Now AF is reduced to signing Pujols?
Lots of good stuff in your comments philjones. Someone mentioned yesterday that you should consider a lead article on a regular basis. With your playing and coaching experience you have a lot of insight on things that most here on the blog do not have. The takes on Buehler’s landing affecting his location and DJ’s frame by frame analysis of his hitting approach is interesting and adds to the enjoyment of the game.
I’ve had the same opinion on DJ on his inability to hit center cut fastballs. How can that keep happening? I mean rarely a foul ball. And then pitchers finish him off with high heat. It’s a shame to watch. He’s a very good athlete and seems to have a decent baseball IQ, but can’t make contact. It’s the same with Neuse when he bats. He looks like a hitter with power, but “no bueno” when it comes contact. Defensively he is shaky as well.
Yeah, Madbum is an ass. With him constantly blowing snot all over the mound by the sixth inning it becomes eligible for toxic superfund money to clean it up. Maybe, that’s why Buehler was having trouble with his landing. Too much snot for a solid finish.
I especially liked his takes on the tightness of the uniforms
Things change Patch: Here are the reasons AF was “reduced” to signing Pujols.
Injured Position players:
Bellinger
Seager
CT3
Pollock
Rios
McKinstry
Replacements::
Raley .171
Neuse .186
Ruiz .143
Peters .200
How about the pitching which is indirectly part of signing Pujols
Injured:
May
Gonsolin
Graterol
Knebel
Alexander
Replacements:
Uceta 2.45
Cleavenger 4.50
Vesia 6.75
White 1.17
Nelson 2.70
Santana 6.92
As much as many have been losing their minds about the bullpen, the Dodgers moved into the TOP 10 in Bullpen ERA at #9!
OK, Go Crazy, Folks – Go Crazy!
Tonights Lineup:
1. Betts CF
2. Muncy 2B
3. Taylor 3B
4. Smith C
5. Beaty RF
6. Pujols 1B
7. Tsutsugo LF
8. Lux SS
9. Urias P
Pretty deep lineup….maybe
This line up works for me. It’s an opportunities for guys to step up for the club. I can live without Raley, Peters and Neuse in the line up.
You and me both brother…..Nuese may show something down the line, but he has sucked big time so far, Raley is a mess…and Peters,,,well if he ever connected,, look out,,,but connecting is the problem
My first thought is, “Wow, lineups already posted for a 7:10 start” They must be really eager to send this one out there.
TsuTsuGo must be a quick learner if they turned him around already.
As long as the D-Bags don’t put the ball in play, we should be fine.
Turner looks like he needs a day, so this is where we are.
I wonder how far they’ll shift the left side of the infield to cover for the right side.
Mookie better play like Kelly Leak tonight.
When you look at tonight’s lineup you see Seager, Belli, Turner and Pollock out. Those would be the four best players on more than a few mlb teams including Arizona tonight and the Marlins who just left. And we’re still 5 games over .500. We’ll be fine when our full lineup is back What fun would it have been if we won 120 games this year?
What do you mean “if” ?
All we need to do to win 120 is go 97-24 in our remaining games. With Bear as our manager it’s in the bag.
I think Bear is more of a “Hitting Coach.” If you mess up, he will hit you!
You are too kind….I would sit on them and teach them a real lesson…..since shooting them is out of the question.
Tonight’s defense should be interesting to observe:
A DH in left field
A DH in right field
A DH at first base
A first baseman at second base
A second baseman/outfielder at third base
The usual right fielder in center field
The usual second baseman at shortstop
… and a puppet as Manager. 😉
… or an Idiot.
Maybe both… or not
Nobody is pulling Bear’s strings!
Strings could not lift me….you would need cable….of the steel kind….
In all honesty, I’m excited to see TsuTsuGo’s debut with the team tonight.
Pujol’s debut was heartwarming with an RBI single against a lefty, something we’ve had trouble doing all season. And a couple of balls hit squarely for outs and the cherry on top was a nice pick at 1B. In addition, there were some good dugout moments. A little melancholy watching the shell of a former great.
I’m hoping Yoshi can provide at least a little more. Well, I’m really hoping for a Hideki Matsui type turnaround for Yoshi. I would be willing to settle for Isuro “Kamikaze” Tanaka.
Tsutsugo is a flier. He either works out or he doesn’t. It’s a cheap experiment. The thing is that it’s an experiment that they don’t have to try if the myriad of AAA outfielders on the roster had anything going but it doesn’t appear that they do, except Beaty (at least right now). I think we have to give a pass to Rios as his injury is likely the cause of his poor performance this year.
The Dodgers haven’t developed too many OF lately. Joc came up in 2014 and Bellinger in 2017. They have been successful at developing starting pitchers (Buehler, May, Gonsolin, Urias) and relievers.
MLB.com ranked the Dodgers’ farm system 14th at the beginning of the 2021 season. Pages is the only OF in the Dodgers’ top 10. The rest of the top 10 contained 2 catchers, 4 INF and 3 pitchers. Only 4 OF in the top 30 (Rodriguez, Vogel and Peters). There isn’t much depth in the minors in the OF.
So – if your starting LF and CF get hurt, who you gonna call?
I guess you’re gonna call the Rays! The Dodgers also developed Alex Verdugo and turned him into Mookie Betts. That’s some damn good results. Kyle Garlick and Scott Schebler are still playing, so they really developed kind of a boatload of outfields, especially if you include McKinstry. They can’t all be superstars, maybe it could have been better, but it isn’t horrible. And we still haven’t seen Zack Recks yet.
I think that if any team had all this happen to them they would likely be 10 games under .500.
Trout out for 6-8 weeks with a calf strain. Maybin to the Cubs for cash. Law DFA’d by the Twins. The amount of injuries this season is alarming. Pillar out after getting hit in the face and having numerous nasal fractures.
It’s insane. Hamstrings alone.
DODGERS RECALL ALEX VESIA
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled left-handed pitcher Alex Vesia and placed left-hander pitcher Garrett Cleavinger on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation, retroactive May 17.
Vesia, 25, returns after being optioned yesterday. He has appeared in three games for the Dodgers, allowing three runs on one hit in 4.0 innings this season. The Northern California native was acquired from the Marlins along with minor leaguer Kyle Hurt in exchange for Dylan Floro. The southpaw made five appearances for the Marlins in 2020, allowing nine runs in 4.1 innings with five strikeouts. In 52 career minor league games, he has posted a 1.62 ERA (18 ER/100.0IP) and 138 strikeouts.
Cleavinger, 27, has appeared in eight games for the Dodgers, allowing six runs (three earned) in 6.0 innings this season. The southpaw has nine strikeouts against four walks with a 1-3 record. He was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in the three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and Phillies on December 20, 2020. He was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft by the Phillies out of the University of Oregon.
Can they just announce when someone isn’t injured?
Another good win and great to see Lux gaining confidence.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen any new player seem so happy to be in Dodger Blue as Albert, and his colleagues certainly seem to be enjoying his company.
Sterner test ahead at the weekend.
Still think we might see Joc and his .253 BA back before the season is out.