Less than two weeks into his return to Los Angeles, reliever Brock Stewart’s homecoming with the Dodgers has hit an early snag. The 33-year-old right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with right shoulder inflammation, an issue the club hopes was caught before it became something more serious.
“It sounds like we caught it at the very front end,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told the Orange County Register. “He talked about how this was maturity for him, to say something (and not try to pitch with it). The manual testing was good, so from our standpoint, we felt like, let’s be smart here. Take him off line. We’re optimistic that he’ll be back. We won’t know until we get at least a little bit more (information).”
Dodgers Front Office Says They Are Optimistic About Brock Stewart
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Stewart, acquired from the Minnesota Twins in a trade for outfielder James Outman at the deadline, had been in the midst of one of his strongest seasons — a 2.63 ERA across 43 appearances, with a career-high 44 strikeouts — before the injury. In his brief stint back with the Dodgers, he’s logged 3.2 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out three.
The timing of Stewart’s setback isn’t ideal. He was the Dodgers’ lone bullpen addition at the deadline, joining a relief corps already stretched thin by injuries to Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech, Tanner Scott, and Kirby Yates. Phillips is done for the year following Tommy John surgery, but the others are targeting returns in the coming weeks.
Friedman remains optimistic that the bullpen could be at full strength — and perhaps historically strong — by October. “I think that we have a very legitimate chance to have the most talented pitching staff in October we’ve ever had,” Friedman said. “First, we have to qualify for October. If we’re fortunate enough to do that, I think we will have arguably our most talented pitching staff that we’ve ever had with some really good pitchers left off.”
Even so, the Dodgers’ path to the postseason is far from smooth. The team is just 15–20 since the start of July, has seen its division lead evaporate, and ranks among the league’s bottom five in runs per game over that stretch. The rotation remains a bright spot — with Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani set to anchor it — but the bullpen’s instability has been a recurring theme.
While Stewart undergoes further testing, Kopech (right knee), Scott (left elbow), and Yates (lower back) are all expected to face hitters soon. Graterol, working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery, is “doing well” in his throwing progression. Depth arms like Kyle Hurt and Roki Sasaki could also become factors down the stretch.
It was announced Tuesday that Tony Gonsolin will miss at least 8 more months, undergoing another elbow surgery.
As for the trade deadline, Friedman stood by the club’s more measured approach despite missing out on marquee bullpen arms like Mason Miller, Jhoan Duran, and Griffin Jax. “There’s deals that we thought made sense for us we pursued hard,” Friedman said. “It’s not like we had the potential to do a deal where we were like, ‘No,’ and now we wish we would have. It’s always that balance. Lining up on a trade is hard. We feel good about the work we put in and the group that we have.”
For now, the Los Angeles Dodgers are betting that patience — and the return of a healthier Stewart — will pay off when it matters most.