Dodgers Blue Heaven: Welcome to the Blue, Jose Dominguez!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Welcome to the Blue, Jose Dominguez! - Welcome Back, Withrow!

There have been some major moves to the Dodgers bullpen lately. I guess Colletti figured it was time to shore up one of the more glaring problems with the team. About time, eh?

Instead of making some trades for veteran relievers, they go young by calling up some of the kids in the minors.

Last night, the Dodgers brought up AAA reliever Jose Dominguez and optioned Peter Moylan to Albuquerque. Per a Dodgers press release:

Dominguez, who will be making his Major League debut and will be wearing jersey number 60, has appeared in 22 total games between Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Chattanooga this season, posting a combined 2-0 record with five saves and a 1.79 ERA (5 ER/25.1 IP), while striking out 40 against 13 walks and limiting the opposition to a .108 batting average. The 22-year-old last pitched for the Isotopes on Thursday at Memphis and struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief, totaling eight scoreless relief appearances for Albuquerque (8.0 IP). Dominguez, a native of San Pedro de Maroris, Dominican Republic, was signed by the Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2007.

Dominguez is said to have a live arm with a fastball that hits 100-mph. Per Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times:

“Last year, I was throwing 97, 98,” Dominguez said. “Occasionally, I’d touch 100. This year, I’ve been more consistent.”

The increased velocity has led to improved results. Dominguez didn’t give up any runs in eight appearances for Albuquerque. Earlier in the season, he posted 2.60 earned-run average in 14 appearances for double-A Chattanooga.

Then, news came down this morning indicating that another bullpen move has just been made. Reliever Chris Withrow is back with Dodgers, and Matt Guerrier has been DFA'd.

Withrow was called up earlier this month and pitched in 3 games. In his last appearance against the Yankees he pitched 2 scoreless innings