Blake Snell leaving Wednesday’s game after just one inning with left groin tightness just blew up the Dodgers’ pitching plans, creating an unplanned bullpen game right before a *planned* one. This team is already scrambling, and it forced them to call up right-hander Landon Knack to gobble up innings.
Another Arm in the Blender
Knack’s return marks his third stint with the Dodgers this season, which tells you everything about their rotation struggles. He hasn’t exactly been lights out in the bigs, giving up five runs, four homers, and six strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings in three games total. His last major league appearance was an eight-out save back on August 12 against the Royals. But here’s the kicker: since getting optioned to Triple-A on August 13, Knack has been a completely different pitcher. He’s rocking a 1.56 ERA with 14 strikeouts and only seven walks across 17 1/3 innings over four appearances. He even tossed five scoreless innings with four punchouts just last Thursday against Sugar Land. They are absolutely hoping that Triple-A success translates this time, because they desperately need innings.
Bobby Miller’s Rollercoaster Ride Hits Another Dip
While Knack is coming up, Bobby Miller is heading down, optioned after throwing 47 pitches across 2 1/3 innings on Wednesday. Miller allowed two runs on three hits and only got seven outs in that loss to the Reds, with one strikeout. This move caps off an absolutely wild month for Miller. He spent over five months on the injured list to start the season with shoulder and back problems. Finally, he was activated off the 60-day injured list on September 5. He actually snagged a win on September 6, allowing a run in three relief innings, only to get optioned the very next day! Then he was back again this week on Monday because Edgardo Henríquez got placed on the injured list with low back discomfort. It’s a revolving door, plain and simple. What’s wild is that because Miller only spent five total days in the majors this month, he actually avoids exhausting an option year. He used options in 2024 and 2025, but not 2026, meaning he still has one option year remaining in 2027. That’s a silver lining in a very cloudy situation for his development.
With left-hander Justin Wrobleski slated to start Thursday after pitching two scoreless innings in relief on Saturday, throwing 25 pitches, the Dodgers’ pitching staff is seriously stretched thin. The health of their arms is the biggest question mark right now. How many more arms can they cycle through before something gives? This pitching carousel is getting harder to ignore.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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