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As I’ve been saying for weeks, the reinforcements are coming for the Dodgers. Well, now they’re nearly all here.
On Thursday, the Dodgers activated outfielder AJ Pollock and reliever Jimmy Nelson from the injured list. In the move, they optioned pitchers Edwin Uceta and Alex Vesia to Triple-A Oklahoma City. With this move, the Dodgers now have 13 pitchers and 13 hitters on their 26-man roster.
Pollock ended up missing just under three weeks with a left hamstring strain. He initially hurt his hamstring early in May while in Anaheim. He wasn’t placed on the IL, instead he missed nearly a week of games with a few pinch-hit appearances. After fully coming back, he tweaked his hamstring and was placed on the IL.
The injury came at the worst possible time for the outfielder, as he was arguably LA’s hottest hitter when he went down. Over his last 15 games, Pollock is hitting .340 with an OPS of 1.010 to go along with three home runs and 12 RBI.
With Pollock back, the Dodgers now have seven different players who can play in the outfield, adding some much-needed depth.
The other move the Dodgers made was activating Jimmy Nelson. He was placed on the 10-day IL on May 23 with right forearm inflammation. Luckily, he missed only a week-and-a-half. Prior to his injury, Nelson was one of the top bullpen options for LA. Over his previous 14 outings, Nelson has posted a 1.06 ERA and opponents are hitting .156 off him. In 17 innings of action, he has 26 strikeouts and eight walks.
Uceta and Vesia both head to Oklahoma City, where they can hopefully improve on some things before given their next shot at the big-league roster. Uceta has allowed eight runs to score in 12 2⁄3 innings of work, with Vesia allowing nine runs to score in 10 2⁄3 innings of work.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are expected to get Tony Gonsolin back at some point within the next week, and it looks like Brusdar Graterol is on his way at some point as well. It only took the first two months of the season, but the Dodgers are almost back to full strength.