On Wednesday, the Dodgers welcomed back Alex Vesia after he spent the minimum 15 days on the IL with an oblique strain. It was good news for a beleaguered, underperforming, unconfident bullpen, but it necessitated a roster move that took fans by surprise: the Dodgers optioned Ben Casparius, who's been a bullpen fixture throughout the season.
The rookie, who's been tabbed as a sneaky awards contender this season, has a 4.64 ERA over 77 2/3 innings pitched — the biggest workload of any Dodgers reliever this season. He was pretty steady through May and anywhere between 1-5 innings with a few turns at opening/starting duty through June.