Jimmy Nelson placed on injured list with left lumbar strain

Another day, another bullpen roster move for the Dodgers. On Friday, right-hander Jimmy Nelson was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left lumbar strain. Left-hander Alex Vesia was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Nelson’s IL stint is retroactive to Wednesday, meaning the earliest he could be activated is July 17, the second game after the All-Star break.

The right-hander has been one of the Dodgers’ best relief pitchers this season, with a 2.00 ERA in 25 games, with 41 strikeouts and 13 walks in 27 innings. Nelson leads the team in FIP (1.80) and strikeout rate (38.7 percent), has the second-best WHIP (0.926) and has yet to allow a home run.

Vesia is the eighth Dodgers pitcher added to the bullpen in the last eight days, part of a stretch with the bullpen accounting for 55 percent of the innings this month.

Since getting optioned to Triple-A, Vesia was dominant, striking out 19 of his 32 batters face, allowing one run in nine innings. That included a stretch of 15 consecutive strikeouts that ended on Tuesday night.

In the majors this season, Vesia has a 5.91 ERA and 7.21 FIP with 16 strikeouts and 11 walks in 10⅔ innings in his 10 games.

Vesia last pitched on Tuesday, making him one of the most-rested pitchers in the 10-man bullpen. Scott Alexander also last pitched on Tuesday. The only pitcher with more rest is left-hander Darien Nuñez, who pitched for Oklahoma City on June 29. Nuñez was called up on Thursday, and his next appearance would be his major league debut.