The Dodgers sprung a trade deadline day surprise after all.
In a deal with the Kansas City Royals, the team acquired left-handed pitcher and former All-Star Kris Bubic, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
In return, the Dodgers are sending back triple-A right-hander Carlos Duran.
Bubic, 28, is currently on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury, but has been a productive swingman over his seven-year career.
In 126 career outings (89 starts), he has a 4.14 ERA. However, he is coming off strong seasons in both 2024, when he had a 2.67 ERA in 27 relief appearances; and 2025, when he earned his lone All-Star selection by going 8-7 with a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts.
ESPN first reported news of the trade.
This season, Bubic made nine starts at the beginning of the year, posting a 3-2 record and 4.11 ERA, before being sidelined by elbow soreness. Since then, his rehab process has been delayed by a shoulder problem. But, according to one source, he is currently on track to return to action at some point around the end of August.
Bubic will be a free agent at the end of this season, which further hampered his value in addition to his health status. If he can indeed return to the mound, though, he will give the Dodgers’ pitching staff another versatile option, capable of providing bulk innings as the team looks to manage the workload of its star-studded rotation.
A native of Cupertino who was a first-round pick in 2018, Bubic’s big-league career got off to a slow start. He had a 4.89 ERA from 2020-2022, then underwent Tommy John surgery after making just three outings in 2023.
Since then, however, the 6-foot-3 Stanford product has emerged as a dependable and crafty left-handed weapon. His fastball only sits in the low-90s, but he is able to generate above-league-average rates of both strikeouts and ground balls.
