Dylan Covey Contract Selected, Justin Bruihl Optioned To Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of Dylan Covey and optioned Justin Bruihl to Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to their series finale against the Minnesota Twins. To make room for Covey on the 40-man roster, Jimmy Nelson was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Bruihl heads to the Minor Leagues after appearing in three consecutive games for the Dodgers. The left-hander made 16 pitches on Monday, 20 on Tuesday, and 28 on Wednesday, over a combined four innings.

The 25-year-old has appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, going 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA, 2.54 FIP, 0.94 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in 10.2 innings. Although he was pitching well, the Dodgers needed to add an arm to their bullpen, and this move gives Bruihl some time to rest.

“Can’t say enough about him, how he’s handled the elevator and not let it affect performance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He just pitched three in a row, I think there’s life to the ball now, there’s a confidence there, there’s an edginess. We’re lucky to have him. Very lucky to have him.”

With Oklahoma City so far this year, Bruihl is 3-0 and thrown eight scoreless innings over six games. He also made an appearance for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, completing a perfect inning.

Dodgers get Dylan Covey back in Majors

Covey spent parts of four seasons with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox, posting a combined 6.57 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and 5.48 FIP across 264.1 innings during that span.

The right-hander hasn’t pitched in the Majors since the 2020 season, and signed a Minor League contract with the Dodgers during the offseason.

Covey arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday as part of the Dodgers’ taxi squad, and Roberts said the plan would be to potentially activate him on Wednesday, depending on the bullpen usage.

The 31-year-old has thrown 32 innings with OKC this season, posting a 4.22 ERA, 5.20 FIP, 1.44 WHIP, 7.88 strikeouts per nine and 5.06 walks per nine.