Dodgers Option OF Luke Raley, Activate RHP Mitch White
Brewers place ace right-hander Corbin Burnes on IL. Scroll for my comments on Edwin Rios.
Per the club:
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated right-handed pitcher Mitch White from the injured list and optioned outfielder Luke Raley.
White, 25, was placed on the injured list on Tuesday, missing two games after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings in his 2021 debut on Monday against the Reds. The former second rounder out of Santa Clara University is 1-0 with 4.2 scoreless frames in his Major League career. In four minor league seasons with the Dodgers, he went 14-15 with a 3.97 ERA and 311 strikeouts in 75 games (67 starts).
Raley, 26, appeared in 14 games for the Dodgers, batting .206 with one double, one homer and two RBI. He made his Major League debut on April 9 against Washington and recorded his first MLB hit on April 14 against Colorado. He was originally acquired by the Dodgers from the Minnesota Twins on February 10, 2020 along with Brusdar Graterol in exchange for Kenta Maeda and minor leaguer Jair Camargo. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft.
Brewers lose Corbin Burnes for 10 days, per Tom Haurdicourt, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Comment: Edwin Rios lives to fight another day. The struggling infielder is 1-30 in recent at bats, with the one hit being an infield single. He’s hitting .093/.235/.163 on the season and it’s every bit as ugly as the stat-line suggests. With yet another opportunity to send Rios out for 10 days of at work at the alternate site, the Dodgers have instead optioned Raley. Rios and Raley are both left-handed swingers, but Raley, while not lighting the world afire, has produced a workable .206/.308/.324 line, with a double, a home run and two RBIs.
It’s important to note that as much as Dave Roberts likes Rios, as good as he was at times in 2019 and 2020 (.260/.338/.634 with 12 homers and 25 RBIs in both years combined), we’re talking about a guy with 166 career at bats over three seasons, with his best work being done over a 47-at bat stretch two years ago (.277/.393/.617, 4 HR, 8 RBIs). That’s simply not a track record that warrants this kind of patience. And I really don’t know what to tell you at this point.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the Internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter. Follow OBHC on Twitter here. Be friends with Howard on Facebook.
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