Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: Veteran reliever heading to IL despite being 'pitchable'

Originally posted on MLB Trade Rumors | By Mark Polishuk | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 9:52 PM ET

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that right-hander Michael Kopech has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right knee. Righty Will Klein was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Klein’s locker in the clubhouse was noted by several L.A. beat writers earlier Friday, leading to speculation that Kopech was going to be sidelined since manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Kopech was playing at less than 100 percent.

Michael Kopech speaks out about his injury

Kopech addressed his situation with MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other reporters, noting that his command was being impacted by “a couple different things right now” and not just his knee soreness.

Kopech will go on the IL, Dave Roberts said. He's "pitchable," but dealing with a few things, as Kopech himself said. The hope is he can reset and be an option for the postseason. https://t.co/DiOx7knqnf
— Sonja Chen (@SonjaMChen) September 19, 2025

The reliever also noted that he has had difficulty performing given the stop-and-start nature of his injury-plagued season. Kopech has tossed only 11 innings in 2025 due to a pair of stints on the 60-day injured list — one due to a shoulder impingement, and another due to a prior bout of knee inflammation. While the righty has a 2.45 ERA over his 11 frames, Kopech is clearly not himself, issuing 13 walks against 12 strikeouts.

Michael Kopech's status for the postseason

Given the timing of the IL placement, Kopech’s regular season is now officially over, and his availability for both a first-round playoff series (and the playoffs in general) now seems in question. Roberts hopes that resting Kopech now will get him healthy for the postseason, describing him as “pitchable” right now, but the Dodgers felt it was wiser to give the right-hander some time off now with a playoff berth already clinched.

Even if Kopech is fully healthy, it is anyone’s guess as to how he might pitch in October. As much as the Dodgers might be tempted to go with another arm for their playoff roster, it was just a year ago that Kopech was one of the key figures in the team’s World Series run. After Kopech was acquired from the White Sox at the trade deadline, he posted a 1.13 ERA over 24 regular-season innings for Los Angeles and then posted a 3.00 across 10 playoff innings.

This article first appeared on MLB Trade Rumors and was syndicated with permission.

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