The Dodgers added seven players and sent away five in their four deals ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Three of those additions are on the 40-man roster, two of whom are right-handed relief pitchers.
Old friend Brock Stewart, who was drafted by the Dodgers in 2014 and previously pitched for them from 2016-19, is back in the bullpen. They also added Paul Gervase, one of three players received from the Rays in a three-team trade that also involved the Reds.
Adding right-handed relief options makes sense considering the various missing pieces in the Dodgers bullpen. Evan Phillips had Tommy John surgery, ending his season. Michael Kopech will be out at least another four weeks after meniscus surgery. Brusdar Graterol hasn’t yet pitched this season after shoulder surgery but might be back in September.
Blake Treinen missed more than three months and just got back this week. Kirby Yates has struggled. The only other right-handed relievers currently on the active roster are Ben Casparius, whose second third of the season was much worse than his first, and Alexis Díaz, who struggled so badly with the Reds earlier this year that he was booed earlier this week by fans in Cincinnati.
Stewart should definitely help, with his 2.38 ERA and 2.25 xERA in 39 games this season.
Dodgers relief pitchers against right-handed batters have a 15.5-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate which ranks seventh in the majors. But their 36 home runs allowed to righty batters are second-most (one behind the Angels), with opposing righties hitting .252/.325/.408 against the bullpen with a .320 expected wOBA that was only 22nd-best among MLB bullpens.
Stewart this season has demolished right-handed batters to the tune of .104/.178/.149 against, best in the majors in all three rate stats, with 29 strikeouts and three walks, one of them intentional. His 39.7-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate against right-handed batters is fifth-best among the 221 major league pitchers with at least 20 innings pitches.
Down the road, the Dodgers could also get help from Gervase, who made his major league debut earlier this season with the Rays and put up impressive numbers in the minors.
Gervase struck out 40.5 percent of his batters faced in 2024 for Double-A Montgomery, the second-best strikeout rate in all of the minors among pitchers with at least 40 innings. This year for Triple-A Durham, Gervase struck out 39.1 percent of his batters faced, which is 14th best among all minor league pitchers with at least 30 innings, and his 7.5-percent walk rate is better than any other minor league pitcher with a top-30 strikeout rate.
The 25-year-old right-hander has also excelled against right-handed batters over the last two seasons, holding same-handed hitters to just .143/.229/.222 with 91 strikeouts (a 43.3-percent rate) and 19 walks between the minors and majors.