Yency Almonte placed on injured list with right elbow tightness

Right-hander Yency Almonte, one of the Dodgers’ best and most-trusted bullpen arms this season, was placed on the 15-day injured list Sunday with right elbow tightness.

Almonte, who signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in March, is having his best season in the majors, with a 1.15 ERA, 3.22 xERA, and 3.27 FIP in 29 appearances, with 30 strikeouts against nine unintentional walks in 31⅓ innings.

The 28-year-old last pitched Wednesday in San Francisco, working around a hit batter to pitch a scoreless inning, his 12th straight scoreless appearance, dating back to July 4.

Almonte is one of only six Dodgers relievers to have an average leverage index above the league rate.

To get a fresh arm on the staff to replace Almonte, the Dodgers recalled starting pitcher Andre Jackson from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

It’s the first call to the majors for Jackson, who had four one-day stints in 2021, pitching three times for the Dodgers.

This year has been a real struggle in Triple-A for Jackson, who through June had a 6.34 ERA and more walks (37) than strikeouts (30). After a nearly three-week break and some time on the developmental list, Jackson this month for Oklahoma City has been much better, with 29 strikeouts and 11 walks in his 17 innings, with a 2.65 ERA.

Jackson in his last outing on Tuesday struck out 10 in five scoreless innings in Salt Lake City, not too far from where he pitched in college at the University of Utah. Jackson was listed as a tandem starter along with Robbie Erlin on Sunday for Oklahoma City, but plans changed.

The plans for Jackson in the majors might change, too, depending on how Sunday and Tuesday go.