LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' front office alleviated a short-term rotation overflow by placing Thomas Stripling on the disabled list Monday.
The club announced that Stripling has a toe injury, which comes at a convenient time. The Dodgers were considering moving the All-Star to the bullpen as he's been showing signs of fatigue, and by the end of the week a sixth starter will no longer be needed.
The club recalled reliever Dylan Floro five days after he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, while manager Dave Roberts said Stripling's injury should take 10-12 days to clear up. Roberts said Stripling has been dealing with the injury for several weeks.
"It was scabbed up and he's been getting treatment on it for a few weeks," Roberts said. "It might have [affected his pitching]. Ross would never say it has. All I know is there is an opportunity to address it, go to an eight-man 'pen and address it."
Stripling has thrown a career-high 104 innings, having moved out of the bullpen into the rotation in May when the Dodgers had a rash of injuries to their starting pitchers.
Stripling allowed back-to-back home runs in the All-Star Game, three more blasts in Philadelphia last week and one more on Sunday, when he lasted only four innings. His ERA has gone from 1.52 on June 5 to 2.68, while allowing at least four earned runs in three of his last five starts.
The Dodgers came out of the All-Star break using six starting pitchers, but they planned a return to the usual five by the end of this week, which would have necessitated someone moving to the bullpen had Stripling not been placed on the DL.
Worth noting
• Third baseman Justin Turner, out with a strained groin, hit in a three-inning simulated game and is nearing his return. Roberts said Turner will not need a Minor League rehab assignment.
• Julio Urias, who hasn't pitched since last year's shoulder surgery, has begun a rehab assignment with the Dodgers' Rookie League club in Arizona. If he makes it back to the Dodgers this year, it would be as a reliever, Roberts has said.
• Nobe Kowano, the Dodgers' clubhouse manager from 1959-91, died on Friday at age 95, one month after the death of his brother, Yosh, who held the same job with the Chicago Cubs for 65 years. Nobe worked for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League from '48 until they relocated when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in '58. It was Kowano who retrieved spikes and a glove Sandy Koufax tossed in the clubhouse trash at the end of the '60 season when Koufax considered retirement. Kowano kept the gear and returned it to Koufax when he reconsidered retirement and returned for Spring Training in '61.