The Dodgers made it official Saturday: Landon Knack is back on the active roster, and Charlie Barnes is designated for assignment to clear the 40-man spot. It's a straightforward corresponding move on paper, but the timing says a lot about where LA's pitching staff actually stands right now.
Dodgers Activate Landon Knack, Designate Charlie Barnes For Assignment t.co/aoHA37H72J
Knack has been out all season rehabbing an oblique strain, and he didn't just get cleared on a doctor's note -- he had to go earn it. Three rehab outings at Triple-A, building all the way up to 3 innings and 63 pitches in his last tune-up, before the Dodgers felt good enough to plug him back into a bullpen that's been running thin. He's stepping into the roster spot vacated by Kyle Hurt, who got optioned out in the same round of moves.
Barnes, meanwhile, is out for the second time in about 2 months. The lefty's whole 2026 has been a game of waiver-wire hot potato -- DFA'd by the Cubs in early May after a single appearance, scooped up by the Dodgers days later, bounced up and down between the bigs and Oklahoma City ever since. Now he's back on the open market, and unless another club claims him, this is likely where the road runs out with LA.
None of this is happening in a vacuum. The move came together right after a Friday bullpen game the Dodgers had to piece together because Shohei Ohtani got scratched with a knee issue, and it lands the day of a matchup with the Diamondbacks. When your rotation depth gets stress-tested like that, you want fresh arms up, not journeymen taking up space on the 40-man.
It's a small move in the grand scheme -- nobody's trading for a reliever coming off an oblique strain or a lefty who's been designated twice in one summer. But little roster tweaks like this are exactly the kind of thing that pile up into the picture a contender needs heading into deadline season. The Dodgers are patching holes now so they're not scrambling for arms in 3 weeks.