Dodgers activate potential X-factor pitcher Kris Bubic

CINCINNATI –– A new face showed up in the Dodgers’ clubhouse this week.

The team is hoping he can be an X-factor in its postseason push.

Six weeks ago, the Dodgers swung a surprise trade deadline day deal to acquire former All-Star left-hander Kris Bubic from the Kansas City Royals. But not until Wednesday was he finally ready to join the active roster, getting activated off the injured list ahead of a game in which the Dodgers could clinch a National League West division title with a win.

In a corresponding roster shuffle, the club optioned reliever Paul Gervase to triple-A and designated for assignment outfielder Ryan Ward to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

“Kind of wild,” Bubic said, glancing at the sheets of plastic rolled up above his locker at Great American Ball Park in anticipation of a postgame clubhouse celebration. “I haven’t technically contributed anything to this team so far. But it’s obviously a cool environment to walk into … So excited to contribute down the stretch.”

Bubic, 29, went somewhat overlooked during the Dodgers’ flurry of trade deadline moves. He arrived in an unexpected move from Kansas City at the cost of only minor-league reliever Carlos Duran. He hadn’t pitched in a game since mid-May because of elbow and shoulder injuries.

“Given the timing of when the deadline was, and that I had just [started throwing] back off the mound the day before deadline day, to be honest I wasn’t completely expecting [getting traded],” Bubic told the California Post. “Especially to a place like this.”

Nonetheless, the Dodgers were drawn to his track record, which included an All-Star selection as a starter last year but also extensive experience pitching out of the bullpen.

“I’ve pretty much pitched in every role in my career so far,” Bubic quipped.

And in recent weeks, the team has been encouraged by his performance during a minor-league rehab stint in triple-A Oklahoma City, which included six scoreless appearances with nine strikeouts and only two hits and two walks allowed.

“[The most important thing was] the strike-throwing, getting back to that,” Bubic said, after issuing 26 walks in nine starts at the beginning of the year, leading to a 4.11 ERA before his injury. “Maybe just being in a one-inning, or a one-plus-inning stint, added a little bit more sense of urgency for me. It was a good reset for me.”

Now, the pending free agent will return to the majors, where the Dodgers hope he can fill a valuable swingman role.

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The team has other candidates for such a job, including starters Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan. Bubic, however, offers a different look as a crafty southpaw who compensates for a low-90s mph fastball by generating extension from his 6-foot-3 frame and inducing soft contact and ground balls.

“He’s a little sleeper play,” manager Dave Roberts said of Bubic last month. “He has a funky throw, has good stuff, has pitched out of the bullpen. He’s kind of cleaned some things up with his throw, too. So we’ll see.”

Assuming Bubic makes the Dodgers postseason roster, it will mark his second time pitching in the playoffs.

In 2024, he was part of a Royals team that was eliminated in the American League Division Series.

This fall, he’s hoping to be part of a much longer October campaign, relishing an opportunity that a couple months ago he didn’t expect to get.

“It was definitely a flip of the switch a little bit,” he said of getting traded to the Dodgers. “For me, considering the situation I’m coming into, I just want to contribute in any way.”