Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers Make Roster Move Ahead of Tuesday's Game vs Padres

Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Jose Urena (47) throws against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 3, 2025.
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Jose Urena (47) throws against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on June 3, 2025. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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The Dodgers have made a decision regarding the corresponding move for Matt Sauer, who is expected to start Tuesday's game in San Diego.

Jose Ureña has lost his spot on the active roster, as he has been designated for assignment to make room for Sauer.

Sauer, 26, will take the place of Tony Gonsolin, who is on the 15-day injured list with a sore right elbow.

Ureña, 33, made two appearances for the Dodgers. He allowed four hits and one run across three innings (3.00 ERA). The veteran right-hander couldn't be optioned to the minors, which has led him to be outrighted once by the New York Mets (May 1) and designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays (May 31) already this season.

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If the Dodgers lose Ureña to another team, he will have played for four organizations this season before the All-Star break.

Across his stints with the Mets, Jays and Dodgers, Ureña has a 5.40 ERA in nine games (two starts). The right-hander is 44-77 with a 4.78 ERA in 241 games (154 starts) with the Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Mets, Jays and Dodgers in his career.

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Sauer joins the Dodgers from the starting rotation of the Oklahoma City Comets. He made two starts for the Dodgers' top farm team since his last big-league appearance, allowing seven runs (seven earned) in eight innings.

Overall, Sauer is 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA in six games (five starts) at Triple-A and 1-0 with a. 3.05 ERA in seven games (one start) in the majors.

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Gonsolin's injury figures to give Sauer a long runway to seize a spot in the Dodgers' rotation. His peripheral numbers — a 0.919 WHIP, with 16 hits and three walks allowed in 20.2 innings — suggest he might be up to the task.

Sauer's performance since joining the Dodgers on a minor league contract has been a revelation. Last year, he posted a 7.71 ERA in 14 games out of the Kansas City Royals' bullpen and was returned to the New York Yankees after the Royals selected him in the 2023 Rule 5 draft.

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Key to the transformation: Sauer said the Dodgers' coaches encouraged him to go back to the mechanics he had when he was selected in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Righetti High School in Santa Maria. He had practically abandoned it for eight years.

Between his lower arm slot and a new cut fastball, Sauer has been a different pitcher — both literally and figuratively — than he was last season. His audition for a long-term rotation spot begins Tuesday.

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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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