Dodgers send Jim Johnson home as playoffs begin.

Jim Johnson

Right-handed pitcher Jim Johnson allowed 21 runs in 18 2/3 innings as a Dodger. He will not be on the 25-man roster for the National League Division Series. (Getty Images)

While the Dodgers wait to release their official 25-man roster for the National League Division Series, one reliever has been ruled out for the first round of the playoffs: Jim Johnson.

The veteran right-hander was sent home rather than to the Dodgers’ instructional league facility in Glendale, Arizona. He had a 10.13 earned-run average (21 runs allowed in 18 ⅔ innings) in 23 appearances as a Dodger.

“We didn’t feel like Camelback Ranch was the place for him,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “As a veteran, he just had a baby, we didn’t see him as the next guy up if somebody would get hurt. We didn’t feel it was fair to ask him to go to Camelback.”

Johnson and his wife welcomed the couple’s third child, a girl named Charlie Elizabeth, on Sept. 24.

Johnson was acquired from Atlanta along with Luis Avilan, Alex Wood and Jose Peraza in July, in the same trade that brought Mat Latos from the Marlins. In the short term, the trade can be safely called a bust. Latos was designated for assignment in September, while Peraza will miss the NLDS with a hamstring strain.

Avilan and Wood are expected to make the Dodgers’ NLDS roster as relief pitchers.

This entry was posted in JP on the Dodgers, Playoffs and tagged , , , , by J.P. Hoornstra. Bookmark the permalink.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.