The long and winding road for Brusdar Graterol took an important turn on Saturday, as the Dodgers reliever joined Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab assignment. He pitched a perfect fourth inning against Round Rock, a Texas Rangers affiliate.
Graterol struck out one batter sandwiched between a pair of groundouts, which is to be expected for the right-hander with the career 61.2-percent groundball rate. He threw only eight pitches, and averaged 95.1 mph on his five four-seam fastballs.
It was Graterol’s first game action since pitching in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series at Yankee Stadium, 549 days ago. Since then he had surgery in November 2024 to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder that wiped out his entire 2025 season.
Graterol was slow-played this spring after not getting the results he or the team wanted early on in camp at Camelback Ranch.
“With Brusdar, he’s shown that we can count on him in the biggest of spots,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters in February. “We just gotta get him up to the velocity. It’s an intentionally slow build up.”
After starting the season on the injured list, Graterol has been throwing and working his way back at Camelback Ranch. But now he finally has a game under his belt for the first time in 19 months.
When healthy, Graterol has been one of the Dodgers’ best and most-trusted relievers since joining the team in 2020. Graterol has a career 2.78 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 188 games and 190 2/3 innings, with 148 strikeouts and 33 unintentional walks, plus a 1.85 ERA and 2.86 FIP in 25 postseason games and 24 1/3 innings. But he has been injured for nearly all of the last two-plus years
Graterol was also limited to only 10 games in the 2024 regular season and postseason combined, missing time with shoulder inflammation and a hamstring strain that year.
The Dodgers avoided salary arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.8 million deal in January with Graterol, who will be a free agent after this season.
This is essentially spring training for Graterol, so expect a methodical build up. Brock Stewart is about to complete his third week of minor league rehab games after having his own shoulder surgery last September, before likely returning to the Dodgers in the coming week. One would imagine Graterol will need at least that long to build back up.
The first step on that journey is now in the books.
