Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers hoping to see Kyle Hurt reach the majors on opening day will be disappointed.
The Dodgers optioned Hurt to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday as their opening-day lineup takes better shape.
Hurt (No. 24) was one of the few options to crack the Dodgers big-league squad out of camp among the team’s in-house young players. Yet, both he and No. 7-ranked prospect River Ryan were both sent down to Triple-A on Wednesday, in what could be the team’s final roster moves involving pitchers before opening day.
The Dodgers will open their season Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto slated to take the hill.
Kyle Hurt Was Sent Down Thursday
Hurt has made four appearances with the Dodgers before he went down with a torn UCL in summer 2024. He is trying to make it back from Tommy John surgery and pitched to a 3.68 ERA in spring training.
So the fact Hurt advanced this far is a strong sign for the 27-year-old’s chances of getting called up Los Angeles at some point this year.
“To get him to get a foundation this year — be able to go back-to-back, pitch two innings in a night, then see how he is on the third day to go out and pitch, and see how he responds,” manager Dave Roberts said of Hurt to Sonja Chen of MLB.com. “Those are things that are just kind of getting some tread, some wear on his tires, for an analogy.
“Thatâs the next part of his development, and he completely understood.”
Hurt has thrown 8 2/3 innings of major-league relief, recording six strikeouts, and has a 1.04 ERA. But in his 9 1/3 innings of minor-league rehab experience in 2025, Hurt pitched to a 1.93 ERA for Oklahoma City while striking out 10.
The Dodgers Bullpen is Loaded
That Hurt was still in the mix is a testament to his potential, since the Dodgers bullpen looks loaded on paper.
Chen spelled out the potential relief options for the Dodgers, since they are down to 14 pitchers, each of whom is on the team’s 40-man roster. The Dodgers bullpen is, of course, headlined by prize offseason acquisition Edwin Diaz, who they signed to a three-year contract from the New York Mets.
Tanner Scott, who was a disappointment in his first year in LA, and Blake Treinen will again be LA’s two main setup men, along with Alex Vesia, who is likely to be the Dodgers’ lefty specialist.
Joining them will be Ben Casparius, Jack Dreyer, Will Klein, Edgardo Henriquez and either Emmett Sheehan or Justin Wrobleski, whoever does not get the final spot in LA’s starting rotation.
Sheehan is likely the frontrunner to be a starter, since he made 12 starts for LA last season, and Wrobleski made 22 of his 24 appearances in relief last year.
The Dodgers seem to have more pitching injuries than most teams, so having Hurt healthy will be important. Plus, Hurt can recover from his own elbow injury and get back to full strength, potentially to contribute to the Dodgers in the second half.
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