Dodgers' pitching injury carousel begins as LA makes roster move before Mets series

The Dodgers have been the most dominant team in baseball for the past few years, but one way they've made a name for themselves is their ability to win baseball games even when operating with a pitching staff that's at less than full strength.

They've been doing that already this year, having made do without Blake Snell while he works his way through a bout of shoulder fatigue. And they have their next casualty in the form of reliever Ben Casparius, who is being sidelined with a shoulder injury.

In previous years, a key part of the Dodgers' ability to weather injuries on the pitching side has been considerable depth in the minors, with players like Ryan Pepiot, Gavin Stone, and Emmet Sheehan all having first broken into the majors when a more prominent name was on the IL.

After the Dodgers announced Casparius was headed for the injured list on Monday, that carousel of young pitching is now being reactivated. The first arm up is right-hander Kyle Hurt, who has just 8 2/3 innings of work in the majors under his belt so far and hasn't appeared in the majors in almost two full years.

What can Dodgers fans expect from Kyle Hurt on the MLB roster?

While the right-hander doesn't have much of a track record in the big leagues just yet, that's fairly understandable given the now 27-year-old's recent history. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery back in July of 2024 and has just 14 frames under his belt at the Triple-A level since then after making his return to a professional mound late last season. Prior to his surgery, Hurt was viewed mostly as a starting pitcher, but since then it appears the Dodgers now view him as more of a multi-inning relief option.

As Dodgers fans surely know after years of watching players like Casparius and Justin Wrobleski break into the majors as multi-inning relievers and spot starters, that sort of pitcher can be extremely valuable. Hurt has flashed considerable upside since returning from the shelf with an impressive 26.5% strikeout rate at Triple-A, though that solid stuff has been held back by a lack of command. Hurt has walked a whopping 14.7% of his opponents since returning to Oklahoma City last year.

Despite those apparent lapses in command, optimistic Dodgers fans need look no further than Hurt's work during spring training this year to see the sort of production he could deliver if he can get the walks under control. Hurt struck out a whopping 40% of his opponents across 7 1/3 innings of three-run ball during camp and walked a much more manageable 6.7% of his opponents.

If he can harness his stuff that effectively in the majors, he'll quickly become an asset to the Dodgers and could even hold onto a roster spot after Casparius's eventual return from the injured list.