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Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers Cut Ties With Veteran Pitcher, Promote Wyatt Mills

The 31-year-old right-hander returns for his second stint.
Dodgers pitcher Wyatt Mills poses for a portrait during photo day at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 19, 2026.
Dodgers pitcher Wyatt Mills poses for a portrait during photo day at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 19, 2026. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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The Los Angeles Dodgers shuffled their right-handed bullpen options Tuesday, promoting Wyatt Mills from Triple-A Oklahoma City and designating Jonathan Hernández for assignment prior to the second game of their road series against the Athletics.

Mills, 31, returns for his second stint with the Dodgers after posting a 2.64 ERA in 26 games for the Comets. He had a 4-4 record and 45 strikeouts in 30.2 innings for the Dodgers' top farm team.

In a four-game stint with the Dodgers earlier this season, Mills had an ERA of 8.10. A sidewinder, Mills offers hitters a different look from the right side than any other Dodgers righty, and gets the most out of his 90-mph heater by throwing it relatively sparingly.

This is Mills' third MLB stop, following stints with the Seattle Mariners (2021-22) and Kansas City Royals (2022). Overall, he has a 0-1 record with a 6.35 ERA in 42 major league games.

Dodgers Designate Jonathan Hernandez for Assignment

Hernández, 29, had an 8.15 ERA in 17.2 innings with the Dodgers this season. In 1.1 innings of relief on Monday in West Sacramento, he allowed one run on two hits.

Hernández made 12 appearances for the Dodgers after he was signed to a major league contract in May, days after he opted out of a minor league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The right-hander has been in the major leagues for parts of five seasons with the Texas Rangers (2019-24), Seattle Mariners (2024) and Dodgers, going 13-8 with a 4.69 ERA and 165 strikeouts in 170.2 innings.

A veteran of 14 professional seasons, Hernández originally signed with the Texas Rangers as a minor league free agent in January 2013.

Within seven days, Hernández can either be traded or placed on outright or unconditional release waivers. If he is claimed off waivers by another team, he will immediately join their 40-man roster. He cannot be optioned to the minor leagues, which is why the Dodgers had to DFA him to clear a spot on their active roster.

The Dodgers will send starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski to the mound against the A's. The sidearming left-hander offers an opposite look from the opposite hand as Mills, so the timing of the shuffle — on the heels of a rough outing by Hernández on Monday at Sutter Health Park — makes too much sense.

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J.P. Hoornstra
J.P. HOORNSTRA

J.P. Hoornstra is an On SI Contributor. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers in California, J.P. covered MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Angels (occasionally of Anaheim) from 2012-23 for the Southern California News Group. His first book, The 50 Greatest Dodgers Games of All-Time, published in 2015. In 2016, he won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for breaking news coverage. He once recorded a keyboard solo on the same album as two of the original Doors.

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