3 Dodgers second half call-ups who can serve as trade additions of their own

The Los Angeles Dodgers are one of the better teams in the league for another season. As a result, they were quite active at the trade deadline. They made quite a few additions to their big-league roster, but because of the injuries to their team, they still have a few holes to fill.

A lot of their holes are in their pitching staff because of how injured they have been. Besides that, when rosters expand, pitching is something that all teams add to their active roster. The Dodgers have an older group of prospects that could be brought up to patch some of these holes.

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3. Justin Wrobleski, LHP, Triple-A

The Dodgers starting pitching rotation has been ravaged by injuries for the entire season. If you're a Dodgers starting pitcher who has seen time in the big leagues, the odds are that you have missed significant time with injury in 2024. This includes Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

With that said, the Dodgers have had to dive into their farm system to patch these holes. They also made a key trade, acquiring Jack Flaherty from the Detroit Tigers in one of the better deals of the season. The Dodgers got an ace-level rental pitcher from the Tigers.

Still, they need to add a starter or two to their active roster down the stretch. This will need to come from their farm system and the top option is lefty Justin Wrobleski. Wrobleski has seen time in the big leagues where he was successful, but has since returned to the minor leagues.

Across 15 minor league starts, the southpaw has a 3.23 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He's been incredibly dominant because of his tremendous four-pitch arsenal and his impressive command. He has a big-league arsenal, and the Dodgers could really use him in the rotation for the rest of the season.

2. Austin Gauthier, UTL, Triple-A

One of the most useful features of a player is his defensive versatility. This allows the manager to leave them in the lineup no matter the handedness of the pitcher because he can move to the infield and the outfield. Jazz Chisholm of the Yankees and Spencer Steer of the Reds are two great examples of players who see time in both the infield and the outfield.

The Dodgers could do this exact thing down the stretch with one of their most polished prospects, Austin Gauthier.

Gauthier, 25, is slashing .269/.404/.399 split between two levels of the minor leagues this year. He's ranked in the Dodgers' top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline and he has a pretty solid hit tool. The ceiling on him isn't ridiculously high, but he would be quite a solid depth piece for the Dodgers to add to their roster.

The infield market was quite dry at the deadline this season and Los Angeles has struggled with some injuries this year. Gauthier could be the addition to the roster that Dodgers fans and the Los Angeles front office have been craving all season long.

1. Kyle Hurt, RHP, Triple-A

Adding to the bullpen is one of the most important aspects of the trade deadline. It's the difference between the good teams and the great teams. Great teams don't lose the games that they're winning late. If they have the lead in the sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth inning, they win the game. That's how the Guardians have been with their dominant bullpen this season. That's the level of dominance that other teams are striving to reach.

The Dodgers are still looking to add bullpen arms to their improving bullpen and they could tap into their farm system to do so. The best option is one of their top prospects, righty Kyle Hurt.

Hurt, 26, has been dominant in his time as a reliever. He's been moved to the bullpen likely because he doesn't have a future in the Dodgers rotation. Since moving to the bullpen, he's lowered his Triple-A ERA all the way down to a 3.07. He's only allowed one earned run over his last ten appearances in Triple-A.

When he makes his way back to the big leagues, it'll be exclusively as a reliever, and it should be as a huge piece of the Dodgers bullpen.