Welcome to the Blue, Josh Sborz!

Over the weekend the Dodgers made a change to their bullpen -- no doubt worried that their six-game losing streak had taxed their relief corps. They called-up right-handed pitcher Josh Sborz from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana to Oklahoma City on Sunday. Per a Dodger Press release:

Sborz, 25, was the 74th overall pick by the Dodgers in the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia. The former Cavalier has been with the Dodger organization five seasons and this will his first Major League promotion after he was added to the 40-man roster on November 20, 2018. On the season, he has made two appearances for Oklahoma City, going 4.0 scoreless frames with nine strikeouts against one walk.

You can follow Josh on twitter here: @JoshuaTree_27  

In the two days he's been with the club he has yet to pitch. Per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider:

“Sborz has been off to a good start, he’s on the (40-man roster) and yeah, (he’s) a fresh arm,” manager Dave Roberts said. “To get Josh here, it’s exciting for him, for his family, and we’re going to run him out there.”
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In 2018, Sborz was strictly a relief pitcher. The right-hander spent the first month of the season with Double-A Tulsa and finished his final four months with Triple-A Oklahoma City. 

He had a combined 3.88 ERA, but what jumps out is his strikeout rate doubled to 12.0 per nine innings and the walk rate sunk by a batter to 3.4. 

“Arm strength, some knowledge of where I’m very good and where I struggled. Just knowing in certain counts when to attack and when to get an out,” Sborz said during Spring Training on how he improved. “When you’re out of the bullpen, one of the biggest factors of moving up is punching people out. Obviously, I made it key for last year, and I’m going to try and make it key for this year.”

Other related stories about Josh are linked below:

• Via Jesse Pearce at Think Blue LA; "Prospect Profile: Josh Sborz."
• Via Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest; "2019 Top 100 Dodgers Prospects: 30-21 (including Josh Sborz).

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