After spending most of his career with the San Diego Padres, and 2020 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves, Robbie Erlin returned to the Majors this year after signing a Minor League contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Erlin, a California native who was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2009, spent most of his age-31 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City, made two Major League appearances with the Dodgers after being called up in May.
Across just two innings of big league work, he allowed two earned runs. Both of those came in Erlin’s second game, which saw him pitch on back-to-back nights against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Although Erlin began his career as a starting pitcher, both games with L.A. were relief appearances.
With the OKC Dodgers, Erlin amassed a 5-4 record and 7.01 ERA over 21 games (14 starts) and 77 innings of work.
Prior to the season beginning, Erlin found himself in headlines due to surrendering a mammoth home run to Dodgers prospect Diego Cartaya during Spring Training.
Robbie Erlin 2022 highlight
In a start against the Salt Lake Bees, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, Erlin delivered a dominant five shutout innings of work without allowing a hit and collecting five strikeouts.
Although the OKC Dodgers would go on to lose the game, for Erlin it was the second instance of the season where he delivered five innings of shutout baseball.
2023 outlook
While Erlin elected free agency back in October, perhaps the veteran could re-sign with L.A. after being a reliable arm in their organization.
Despite not posting the most impressive figures, left-handed pitchers can be hard to come by, and it might not hurt to ink him yet again to a one-year deal.
Although Erlin conceivably could remain with the Dodgers, he just as well may draw interest from multiple teams even if it potentially only leads to another Minor League contract for the 2023 season.
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