Dodgers Recall Ian Thomas As 26th Man; Juan Nicasio To Start

With a doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday in Colorado, many expected the Los Angeles Dodgers to use the 26th man rule to call up a spot starter for the first game.

Prospect Zach Lee was pulled early from his last start, which led to speculation that he would be making his Major League debut against the Rockies; however, Don Mattingly mentioned on Monday that the starter would not be making his first start. Then the team selected the contract of David Huff and it appeared that he could get his second start of the season, but he threw in Monday night’s game and removed himself from the conversation. Joe Wieland was another possible candidate to start as he was scheduled to start on Tuesday for the OKC Dodgers.

In the end, the Dodgers announced that they recalled left-hander Ian Thomas to be the 26th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Thomas was recently acquired in the trade that sent third baseman Juan Uribe to the Atlanta Braves. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team would like to stretch Thomas out as a starter, and he went to the OKC Dodgers where he tossed 2.1 innings and allowed six earned runs on Thursday. Thomas has a 3.94 ERA in 21 career games in the Majors. He appeared in five games for the Braves this season, striking out five in 5.1 innings and allowing three runs (two earned).

While Thomas was recalled, he won’t be the starting pitcher for any of the games on Tuesday. Juan Nicasio was given that duty for Game 1 in a game that will be handled by the bullpen. The right-hander has not started a game for the Dodgers this season and his longest outing has been three innings. He could be stretched out to four innings, depending on how he does and what the Dodgers plan is.

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Andrew Friedman Explains Juan Uribe Trade