Matt

Sauer

Sauer heads back to the minors with Emmet Sheehan coming off the injured list to make his season debut on Wednesday night against the Padres. The 26-year-old righty allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings on Tuesday night in a bulk relief appearance against San Diego.

Matt Sauer is supposed to be the bulk guy tonight, but it’ll be Dreyer going first. He’s topped out at three innings this season and he hasn’t pitched in six days, so if he’s effective, he might go a little longer than the typical opener.

Sauer followed opener Lou Trivino after the first inning on Tuesday against the Padres. After a scoreless second inning, he gave up three runs on a walk, double, base hit and a triple in the third inning, all on two outs. The Padres would add a run in the fourth and fifth before tacking on four in the sixth as the Dodgers left Sauer in there for as long as they could before infielder Enrique Hernández took over with two outs. The 26-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 5.68 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and a 19/6 K/BB ratio across 25 1/3 innings. He’s tentatively scheduled for an outing against the Padres in Los Angeles on Monday.

It’ll be a bullpen game for Los Angeles on Tuesday night with Matt Sauer functioning in a bulk relief role. Trivino will handle the opening frame to face a couple tough hitters atop San Diego’s lineup.

Sauer will factor into Los Angeles’ pitching plan for Tuesday’s game against the Padres and could even wind up starting the contest. The 26-year-old righty has compiled a respectable 3.05 ERA and 13/3 K/BB ratio across 20 2/3 innings (seven appearances, one start) this season at the highest level. Despite his success, he’s not a recommended streaming option for fantasy purposes, especially against a tough San Diego lineup.

Sauer will head down to Triple-A to make room for Bobby Miller on the roster. The 26-year-old will assuredly be back with the Dodgers as a multi-inning relief option at some point.

Sauer will be capable of working multiple innings, but the 26-year-old won’t be able to go deep enough to qualify for a victory unless the Athletics are incredibly aggressive against the right-hander. He won’t be a quality streaming option for Thursday’s bullpen game against the Athletics.

The four-inning save is a scorekeeping dinosaur that’s rarer than a fish on land. Sauer accomplished the feat in his return to the majors, protecting a one touchdown lead against the Marlins to net his first-ever save. He’ll probably wind up being shipped back to the minors to bring up a fresh arm, but he certainly came through for the Dodgers in this one by gobbling up some much-needed frames.

Sauer rejoins the Dodgers’ bullpen mix to replace an injured Evan Phillips (forearm) prior to Wednesday’s showdown against the Marlins. The 26-year-old righty has allowed just two runs over 6 2/3 innings (two appearances) this season at the big-league level.

Sauer is off the roster to make room for Tony Gonsolin for his season debut against the Marlins. Sauer will likely be back at some point this spring as a multi-inning option.