Eleven years after he was drafted by the Dodgers, Brock Stewart is coming back to his original team. Stewart was acquired from the Twins, though the return to Minnesota has not yet been reported.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the trade, which was also reported by Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic
Stewart was drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth round in 2014 and pitched parts of four seasons for them in a mix of starting and relief before getting claimed off waivers by the Jays at the 2019 trade deadline.
Before the current limit of five options per season was implemented in the current collective bargaining agreement, Stewart was an example of a player who rode the up-and-down between the majors and minors, optioned 17 times in a roughly 24-month stretch with the Dodgers from 2016-18.
After Tommy John surgery in 2021 wiped out two seasons, Stewart thrived the last three seasons with the Twins, with a 2.33 ERA in 83 games since the start of 2023, with 100 strikeouts and 25 unintentional walks in 77â…“ innings. He was interrupted by stints on the injured list with elbow soreness and a right shoulder strain the previous two seasons, and missed the first three weeks this year with a left hamstring strain.
This season for the Twins, the 33-year-old Stewart has a 2.38 ERA and 2.25 xERA in 39 games, with 41 strikeouts (a 22.7-percent rate) and nine unintentional walks in 34 innings.
Stewart is making $870,000 this season, with roughly $280,000 remaining. He has two more seasons of arbitration eligibility remaining.