The Los Angeles Dodgers optioned Justin Bruihl to Triple-A Oklahoma City as the corresponding move to activating Julio Urías off the 15-day injured list.
Urías returns Saturday after missing six weeks because of a left hamstring strain. The Dodgers initially anticipated a relatively quick return, but Urías continued to deal with lingering soreness.
After the setback he again threw bullpen sessions before advancing to facing batters in a simulated game. Urías recovery continued to go smoothly and he joined Single-A Rancho Cucamonga for a rehab start last weekend.
The left-hander reached both benchmarks set by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in throwing 60 pitches over four innings. Urías struck out eight of 15 batters faced and held the Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres affiliate) to two hits and one run in the Quakes’ 7-1 win.
After the outing he said a focus would be continuing to throw first-pitch strikes once back up with the Dodgers.
Through 10 starts for the Dodgers so far this season, Urías has thrown a first-pitch strike 62.6% of batters faced. That’s down from last year’s average of 66.6% , which also was a decline from the 2021 season when Urías threw a strike on his first pitch at a career-best 70.7% rate.
Overall, the 26-year-old is trying to bounce back from what’s been a disappointing showing in 2023 thus far. Urías is 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA, 5.30 FIP and 1.16 WHIP.
Justin Bruihl Minor League options
Bruihl heads to OKC one day after appearing in back-to-back games. He threw two scoreless innings in the series finale at Coors Field, then pitched the ninth of the Dodgers’ win against the Royals on Friday.
Bruihl is 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 16 games for the Dodgers. He’s gone 4-0 with one save and a 1.23 ERA across 12 appearances for Oklahoma City.
With the roster move, Bruihl has now been optioned four times this season. That leaves the Dodgers with just one more Minor League option available for Bruihl under the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
If a team attempts to option a player more than the permitted five times in a single season, he would first be placed on waivers.
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