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The Dodgers optioned Landon Knack back to the minors after he delivered an 8-out save and recalled Jonathan Hernández to fill the roster spot, per Eric Stephen at True Blue LA. If this feels like déjà vu, it should — the club has been shuttling these two back and forth as bullpen needs dictate, and this latest swap came right on the heels of Knack’s gutsy long-relief performance.

Knack’s 8-out save is the kind of outing that sticks with you. That’s not a mop-up role — that’s a young pitcher being asked to carry the game home from the middle innings and doing exactly that. Knack, who came up through the Dodgers’ system as a starter, has shown real versatility this season. He’s the type of arm that organizations covet: a guy who can start, go multiple innings out of the pen, or — as we just saw — lock down a game for nearly three full innings. The fact that he’s still being optioned despite that performance tells you everything about where this roster stands depth-wise. The Dodgers have the luxury of moving him up and down because he still has minor league options, and they’re using every bit of that flexibility.

Hernández, meanwhile, continues to serve as the corresponding piece in this roster dance. The veteran right-hander signed with the Dodgers and has been a reliable middle-relief arm when called upon. His experience in high-leverage situations — dating back to his time with the Rangers, where he was part of their 2023 World Series championship roster — gives the bullpen a different look than what Knack provides. Where Knack offers length, Hernández offers the kind of short-burst, high-intensity relief work that matters in tight games.

I’ll be honest — watching Knack get sent down after an 8-out save feels a little rough. That’s the kind of performance that, in a perfect world, earns you a longer stay. But this is roster management in 2026, and the Dodgers clearly have a plan for how they want to deploy their bullpen arms through this stretch. With the pitching staff still navigating injuries and Shohei Ohtani‘s rehab timeline, every roster spot matters, and the front office is squeezing maximum value out of the option rules.

The bigger picture here is that the Dodgers’ bullpen depth is being tested, and guys like Knack and Hernández are the ones absorbing the churn. As long as Knack keeps pitching like he did in that save, he’s going to force his way into a permanent role sooner rather than later. For now, though, the shuttle continues.

Source(s): Eric Stephen (True Blue LA) | First reported: August 14, 2026 6:47 AM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers