The Dodgers announced that they have placed right-hander Kirby Yates on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 21st, due to a right hamstring strain. That is the corresponding move for fellow righty Roki Sasaki to be reinstated from the IL, a move that was reported yesterday. Manager Dave Roberts previously passed the news along to reporters, including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
Yates, 38, signed a one-year deal, $13MM deal with the Dodgers coming into the year. He was coming off an excellent 2024 season with the Rangers wherein he posted a 1.17 earned run average over 61 appearances.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers haven’t gotten anywhere near that level of production in 2025. Yates went on the IL in mid-May due to a right hamstring strain and missed about three weeks. He also missed about three weeks in August due to lower back pain, so this will be his third IL stint of the year. Around those IL trips, he has tossed 41 1/3 innings for the Dodgers with a 5.23 ERA. His 29.2% strikeout rate is actually quite good but he’s been undone by the long ball, having allowed nine this year.
In a sense, his poor results make this not a huge loss. Many people on the internet are even convinced it’s a phantom IL stint just to get him out of the way. But almost every member of the Dodger bullpen has been struggling lately. Dodger relievers have a collective 5.69 ERA in the month of September, which is better than just four clubs in the majors. With guys like Michael Kopech and Brock Stewart also having been placed on the IL lately, the club surely doesn’t want to be losing more arms, even the ones that are currently struggling.
The Dodgers have a good chance at winning the National League West but probably won’t be able to catch the Phillies for a first-round bye. They will likely have to play the Wild Card round without Yates. He could perhaps be reinstated for the NLDS but he would have to get healthy and give the Dodgers the impression he is worthy of a roster spot by then.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images