3 potential secret weapons Dodgers can’t afford to leave off playoff roster

Kyle Hurt, RHP

Kyle Hurt, called up when Walker Buehler was shut down for the season, threw two perfect innings for the Dodgers (with three strikeouts) in one appearance before being sent back down to Oklahoma City.

It felt like, when Hurt was promoted, that he was being brought to the bigs to audition for a postseason roster spot. The flamethrowing righty would theoretically have passed any such audition with flying colors based on the data provided. Then, he went back down.

Did the Dodgers see "enough" from Hurt in an entirely different way? Were they dissuaded from using him? Or is their postseason picture just so jumbled with kids and vets already that they figured it might be best to wait until next season to see what they really had here?

When Hurt was brought up for a look see, Jeff Passan made sure to note that he held the highest strikeout rate in the minors at the time, whiffing 145 men in 88.1 innings powered by his mature secondary pitches and (Passan's words) "monster fastball." It would seem like Hurt might be a worth a longer conversation for a Dodgers team that's desperately turning over every stone right about now (no, not every Stone) in hopes of creating a postseason roster that can match the NL's other high-powered offenses toe-to-toe without a defined "ace" (or defined No. 2, or defined No. 3...).

Maybe the Dodgers know everything they need to know about Hurt already and don't want the rest of baseball to get too deep a look at him before October begins. But if they're as desperate for arms as they seem to be, Hurt should get a serious look next week.