Dodgers’ bullpen gets a boost with Alex Vesia’s return

LOS ANGELES — Reunion week continued at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday when left-hander Alex Vesia rejoined the back end of the bullpen following his recovery from an oblique injury.

Vesia’s activation from the injured list came on the same day that catcher Will Smith was back in the starting lineup for the first time since last Wednesday in Pittsburgh, where he took a foul ball off the back of his right hand.

On Monday, third baseman Max Muncy was activated following his own oblique strain and on Wednesday, utility man Tommy Edman is set to return from a sprained right ankle.

Vesia gives the Dodgers five left-handers in the bullpen, along with Tanner Scott, Jack Dreyer, Anthony Banda and Justin Wrobleski.

“It’s a little redundant but I still like the quality of arms we got in the ’pen, one through – what is it – 13 and a half pitchers that we have?” Manager Dave Roberts said. “I love that. So just to have Alex’s experience, he’s healthy, he feels good to be back active. So yeah, just to have a high-leverage guy, someone you trust, it’s good to have him back.”

Relief help is always welcome with the Dodgers leading baseball with 583⅔ innings from their bullpen through Monday. Their 4.19 ERA from the relievers is just 19th in the major leagues, though, and ninth in the National League.

Scott’s issues have been magnified of late after he gave up a walk-off hit in the first two games of last weekend’s series in Baltimore and then the lone hit in the ninth inning of Monday’s near no-hitter.

“We’ve faced adversity before, and it seems we come out on the other side, and we’re better from it,” Vesia said. “I believe in every single one of us. And yeah, it’s gonna be a great couple weeks.”

Those couple of weeks will lead to another trip to the postseason after the bullpen was one of the stars during last season’s run to a title. Short on starting pitching, the Dodgers got the job done with four bullpen games in the postseason on the way to the title, including a shutout in a win-or-go-home Game 4 against the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series.

“We have every opportunity to go out there and put up zeros,” Vesia said. “We got to start believing in ourselves and go out there and getting outs. So I think we will.”

When he went on the injured list retroactive to Aug. 23, Vesia said the downtown was more precautionary than anything else and his recovery went off without a hitch. He brings back a 3-2 record with a 2.75 ERA in 59 relief appearances (52⅓ innings).

“(Time off) was good, but I like to pitch, staying in the groove and whatnot,” Vesia said. “It always sucks to be sidelined, but at the same time, I do understand that the bigger picture is the next three weeks plus the playoffs. So I think it worked out great.”

NOT OUT OF MIND

In order to get Vesia on the roster, right-hander Ben Casparius was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Casparius, who made his major league debut just over a year ago, was a key member of the bullpen in the playoffs and fell just short of staying on the roster every day of his first full season. He has gone 7-5 with a 4.64 ERA in 46 appearances (three starts).

After operating in multiple bullpen roles this season, Casparius essentially had been pitching one inning at a time since the middle of July but had a 5.40 ERA over his last 16 appearances (15 innings).

“It was tough,” Roberts said. “Ben has done a lot of nice things for us, he really has. And he’s still a big part of what we’re doing this year.”

Roberts likened the option to more of a reset than a demotion.

“Getting Ben back to dominating right-hand hitters is something that we felt, if we can kind of give a chance to catch his breath, get to OKC and get back to that, it’ll be more helpful for us the rest of the year, and potentially throughout the postseason,” Roberts said.

ROCKET ROKI

Right-hander Roki Sasaki unleashed an elite fastball during his rehab outing with Oklahoma City on Tuesday, reaching as high as 100 mph on the radar gun and consistently sitting above 98 mph.

Sasaki gave up three runs and three hits over 4⅔ innings (90 pitches) with eight strikeouts. But his command remains a work in progress with four walks as he ran out of gas late in the outing.

With a crowded Dodgers rotation, the outing once again raised questions about Sasaki possibly returning to the roster as a reliever.

“Anything’s possible,” Roberts said about a temporary relief role. “Again, once he gets out of this one, I think we’ll have more clarity. … I know Roki is anxious to get back here. I know he wants to contribute.”