Dodgers recall pitcher Josh Sborz from OKC

LOS ANGELES — — The Dodgers announced this morning that they have recalled right-handed pitcher Josh Sborz from Oklahoma City. The corresponding move was optioning right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana to Oklahoma City.

This is Josh Sborz’s first time on the 25-man roster, his contract was selected for the 40-man roster back in November.

“He’s off to a good start, fresh arm,” manager Dave Roberts said this morning, “Dennis did what he did but he’s going to be down for a few days.” “So we get Josh here, it is exciting for him, his family and we are going to run him out there.”

Sborz had made two appearances for Oklahoma City. He had pitched four innings and given up no runs and three hits. Sborz had also struck out nine against one walk.

In his junior season at University of Virginia, Sborz was primarily a reliever. Virginia would eventually face the defending NCAA champions Vanderbilt University that featured fellow Dodger Walker Buehler. Virginia would go on to win the 2015 NCAA championship in three games, their first baseball title.

Sborz was drafted 74th overall in the 2015 draft by the Dodgers. He started his minor league career mostly as a starter.

In 2018, he was used only as a reliever. He pitched in 46 games, 33 in Oklahoma City and his overall statistics were 53⅓ innings pitched with a 3.88 ERA. He struck out 71 and walked 20.

Dennis Santana had made three appearances with the Dodgers. In five innings, he had given up four runs and three hits. Santana had struck out six and walked four.

Health update

There were updates on Rich Hill, Hyun-jin Ryu and Russell Martin this morning.

“So Rich is going to pitch on Wednesday,” Roberts said “where that is, is to be determined and that is more based on logistics. It could be Rancho which is convenient, it could be OKC.

Note that Rancho Cucamonga will be playing at Lake Elsinore on Wednesday but that is certainly as convenient as Rancho Cucamonga.

“So Rich it is going to be 4 [innings] and 60, and then he’ll probably do one in the pen afterward and we’ll see where we go from there”

“Hyun-jin is going to throw an aggressive bullpen tomorrow and when I say aggressive,” Roberts said, “he doesn’t really throw bullpens so something around the 40 pitch mark, use all of his pitches, see how he responds to that will give us a better idea how aggressive we can be with him going forward.”

Roberts indicated that Martin is still not quite ready for baseball activities yet.

“So Russ is moving around much better, I don’t see him picking up a bat or throwing a baseball here in the next couple of days,” Roberts said, “so his timetable is kind of a little cloudy right now, it is more of a day-to-day”