July 21st, 2016 at 8:59 am 
by Ron Cervenka The Dodgers have recalled left-hander Julio Urías from Triple-A Oklahoma City and selected the contract of left-handed reliever Grant Dayton.
Urias will start today’s game against Washington Nationals star right-hander Stephen Strasburg in our nation’s capital. It will be his first start since July 4 (vs. Baltimore) and his ninth this season for the Dodgers. The 19-year-old phenom is 1-2 on the season with a 4.95 ERA. He has, however, struck out 44 in his 36.1 major league innings pitched. That being said, he is 4-1 with a 1.07 ERA on the season in nine games (seven starts) with the OKC Dodgers.
Urias will go head-to-head with Stephen Strasburg, who is 13-0 on the season for the NL East-leading Washington Nationals.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Dayton will be making his first trip onto a major league roster, having spent seven seasons in the minor leagues. The 28-year-old Huntsville, Alabama native was acquired by the Dodgers from the Miami Marlins on July 15, 2015 in exchange for left-hander Chris Reed. He was originally selected by the Marlins in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Auburn. Dayton posted a 5-2 record and a 2.44 ERA in 35 appearances this year between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. He also earned four saves in his 48.0 innings of work and limited opponents to a .165 batting average with a 0.79 WHIP. What is most notable about the 6′-2″ – 195-pound lefty are his 85 strikeouts against only 10 walks. He last pitched on Monday, striking out four in 2.0 scoreless innings against the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners) needing only 33 pitches to do so. Dayton has a minor league career mark of 26-21 with 19 saves and a 2.79 ERA in 262 games.
To create room on the 25-man and 40-man rosters for Dayton the Dodgers sent Zach Walters and infielder Charlie Culberson back to Triple-A OKC. They also transferred struggling right-hander Chris Hatcher to the 60-day disabled list for a strained left oblique.
Culberson, who was recalled for Wednesday’s game vs. Washington, has hit .267 with five RBI in 16 games with the Dodgers this season. Walters made his Major League debut on July 16 and went 0 for 5 in three games with the Dodgers.
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Does this mark the end of Chris Hatcher’s career as a member of the Dodgers? He will not be eligible to come off the DL until late September. If the Dodgers are still in the hunt, they are not going take the chance of putting Hatcher in a critical spot, and if they are out of the race, there is no need to consider Hatcher at all.
Since Josh Ravin is pitching again, I am assuming that he is either still on the suspended list or on a rehab assignment with AZL Dodgers. If he becomes eligible before trade deadline, he will have to be added back to 40-man or released, or a trade leaves a spot open.
As much as I like Chris Hatcher as a person, he simply had to go. However, I think it was extremely disrespectful and unfair for the Dodgers to do the DL thing with him – 15 or 60. They should have DFA’d him to give him the option of returning to OKC off the 40-man or to become a free agent and possibly getting a shot elsewhere.
It’s almost as though F&Z wanted to punish Hatcher for his struggles. What good does that do anyone?
Not sure I can agree with “extremely disrespectful”.
I don’t know, can a player be put on DL without them agreeing? Has he actually been pitching hurt? Are we sure Dodgers are done with Hatcher? What is the contract situation with Hatcher?
Hatcher has been frustrating, he looks like he has excellent stuff, but we all know, he hasn’t been getting the job done (except second half last year). It now looks like he is done for this year. One thing about FAZ, if there is ANY future potential, they don’t burn their bridges. Is Hatcher unrestricted after this year? Do they have arbitration rights? Does him going to DL instead of DFAing him, give them any rights to Hatcher after this season?
Just wondering.
Hatcher has no options remaining, and he enters year 1 of arbitration next year. His contract for 2016 is $1,065,000. The Dodgers do not have to release Hatcher, it just seems very quick to pull the 60-day DL. They did not need to bring up Dayton, which required a 40-man move. They could have called up Cotton who was already on the 40-man, and just put Hatcher on the 15-day. Outside of Gabe Kapler when he was in high school,I have never met any of the FO personnel, so I cannot comment on disrespect or not. But it sure seems odd for both Hatcher and Cotton.
I was dead serious about liking Chris. He is really a good guy with a great sense of humor and, if you recall, he was visiting our troops overseas when he was traded from Miami to the Dodgers. That goes a very long way with me.
I agree with AC 100% – I think putting him on the 60-day was waaaay too premature. Why not let him at least get a little treatment for his strained oblique and the see how he is responding before essentially taking him out for the rest of the season. Not that he would have made it anyway but doing so prevents him from being on the playoff roster (if there is to be one, of course).
Players indeed have a say about going on the DL but as you know, it is a common practice to DL a guy for a ‘mystery injury’ if they are struggling. His contract with the Dodgers is guaranteed so this isn’t about the money. As I eluded to, this whole thing stinks of punishment and the DL thing prevents him from landing a job elsewhere.
I saw Grant pitch in 2 games in Sacramento, but he apparently did not have his otherwise great stuff on the two games he pitched. He was the losing pitcher in one of the games due to an unearned run (dropped throw at 1B for 3rd out), and only had 1 K in 2.2 IP, which looking at his game logs was highly unusual. In the 35 games he has pitched this year all but 2 he has recorded at least 1 K, and one of those games was at Sac.
I would really have liked to see him pitch today, but hopefully he will get to pitch in St. Louis. Since he was traded for a former #1 pick, I really want to see him do well. Since he is now on the 40 man, I hope that he at least gets as much of a chance as Avilan has had. 85K in 48 IP is closer or at least setup type relief pitching.