While Pedro Baez had shown recent improvement, he was the odd man out on Wednesday when the Los Angeles Dodgers officially called up Caleb Ferguson for his MLB debut. Baez was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in order to create room for Ferguson on the active roster.
Although the Dodgers bullpen has largely been a strongpoint for the team under manager Dave Roberts, Baez has often been a polarizing member of the group. He’s remained one of Roberts’ most-used and most-trusted options, even if results suggested otherwise.
Those struggles led to Baez often drawing the ire of the fanbase. Much like Chris Hatcher and Sergio Romo did during their respective tenures with the team.
Roberts came to Baez’s defense last season after he was unceremoniously booed off the mound at Dodger Stadium. So too did Kenley Jansen, among others in the clubhouse.
Roberts said sending Baez to Oklahoma City was a difficult decision but explained it was one made due to multiple factors, via SportsNet LA:
“It’s a usage/coverage but also, with a left-hand hitter he hasn’t been as effective as he has been in the past. But Pedro has done everything I’ve asked of him. He’s prepared, he’s worked hard. It’s not an easy decision for us, for him. But just to continue to work on executing pitches, and I’m confident he will.”
Baez is 2-3 with a 3.25 ERA, 3.37 FIP and 1.59 WHIP in 28 games this season. In 15 appearances since May 2, he’d pitched to a 2.30 ERA while holding opponents to a .250/.348/.450 batting line.
On the season, the right-hander owns a 27.8 percent strikeout rate but his 12.7 percent walk rate would be a career high. Left-handed batters hit .243/.408/.459, compared to righties who batted .271/.329/.386.
The Dodgers demoted Baez instead of comparable candidates in Yimi Garcia (4.35 ERA) and Daniel Hudson (4.50 ERA). Hudson, who like Baez appeared in Tuesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, is out of Minor League options.
Of course, Baez may very well rejoin the team now that Tony Cingrani was removed from his appearance on Wednesday due to shoulder trouble.
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