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Jake Jewell didn’t pitch for the Dodgers in 2021, but the right-handed pitcher was emblematic of how robust the roster churn was in the Los Angeles bullpen for a good chunk of the season.
The 28-year-old had a 2.78 ERA in 23 games in relief in Triple-A Iowa, and spent a month with the Cubs that saw him allow five home runs in 10 innings in his first stint in the majors since 2019. The Dodgers claimed Jewell and his Cubs teammate Ryan Meisinger off waivers on August 31, during a period of time when the Dodgers desperately needed fresh arms.
Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin were both more than a week away from returning from the injured list, and David Price was getting transitioned to relief. The Dodgers at this point in the season had three starting pitchers — Max Scherzer, Walker Buehler, and Julio Urías — and were filling in the other two games with the bullpen, in addition to utilizing options to use Mitch White and Andre Jackson to pitch bulk innings every 11 days or so.
Needing to fill so many innings on a daily basis required a steady supply of fresh relief pitchers, and this was in the midst of a stretch that saw the Dodgers add a pitcher to the active roster nine times in 10 days.
Jewell with the Dodgers pitched in two games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, striking out five of 11 batters faced while totaling 2⅓ scoreless innings. But he never got called up to the majors with LA.
The Dodgers needed a 40-man roster spot to activate infielder Sheldon Neuse from the COVID-19 injured list, and lost Jewell on waivers to the Giants on September 7.
Jewell’s time on LA’s 40-man roster lasted eight days.
Stats
Age: 28
Stats: 9.90 ERA, 10 G, 10 IP, 10 K, 5 BB with Cubs; with Dodgers: 2⅓ IP, 5 K in Triple-A
Salary: unknown
Game of the year
Jewell struck out three of his five batters faced on September 2 for Triple-A Oklahoma City, pitching 1⅓ scoreless innings against Albuquerque.
Roster status
San Francisco sent Jewell outright to Triple-A Sacramento on September 11, and the right-hander elected free agency in October.