Dave Roberts Not Worried About Kyle Hurt’s Hasty Call Up

Mar 28, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) in the dugout before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t expect to call up reliever Kyle Hurt up so early, but he knows the right-hander is ready for the challenge.

Hurt began the season in Triple-A after the Dodgers optioned him towards the end of spring training, but LA summoned him for their opening game against the New York Mets after Ben Casparius landed on the injured list with a shoulder injury.

Roberts initially wanted Hurt to ramp back up after he missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“To get him to get a foundation this year — be able to go back-to-back, pitch two innings in a night, then see how he is on the third day to go out and pitch, and see how he responds,” manager Dave Roberts said of Hurt. “Those are things that are just kind of getting some tread, some wear on his tires, for an analogy. … That’s the next part of his development, and he completely understood.”

After the Dodgers had to call Hurt up, though, Roberts expressed his trust in the right-hander despite the unfortunate situation.

“I think our thought was to … build him up a little bit, but things happen,” Roberts said. “You got to adapt. He’s the beneficiary of things changing. He’s a big league pitcher, so he’ll be fine.”

Mar 28, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) in the dugout before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

How has Kyle Hurt Performed for the Dodgers in his Career?

Hurt spent all of 2025 on the injured list—as previously mentioned—but still has four MLB appearances to his name in prior seasons.

The 27-year-old made his MLB debut in 2023, where he posted two scoreless innings for the Dodgers in his only MLB outing of the season. He made three appearances the following year in 2024, posting a 1.35 ERA through 6.2 innings while striking out three batters.

Injuries have heavily impacted Hurt’s playing time over the past few years, but he’s looking to make a big comeback this year and his minor-league statistics show that.

He made six appearances for Triple-A Oklahoma City before his call up, pitching 4.2 innings and recording eight strikeouts. He kept opponents scoreless in five of those six outings, though allowed three runs in his other relief outing.

Did Kyle Hurt Pitch on Monday?

Hurt didn’t pitch for the Dodgers against the Mets Monday, as starter Justin Wrobleski put together eight shutout innings on just 90 pitches as the Dodgers took a 4-0 win.

The Dodgers now have a fully rested bullpen heading into Tuesday’s game so it’s uncertain whether or not LA will call on Hurt, but he’s sure to be ready should the situation arise.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will make his fourth start of 2026 Tuesday, and will look to give the Dodgers their fourth consecutive series win. First pitch for the second game of the series comes Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. PT.

Are you excited to see Kyle Hurt back in MLB?