LOS ANGELES -- To make room on the roster for rookie right-hander Walker Buehler, the Dodgers designated reliever Wilmer Font for assignment on Monday.
When a player's contract is designated for assignment -- often abbreviated "DFA" -- that player is immediately removed from his club's 40-man roster. Within seven days of the transaction (had been 10 days under the 2012-16 Collective Bargaining Agreement), the player can either be traded or placed on irrevocable outright waivers.
Font was out of options. He appeared in six games with the Dodgers this season and went 0-2 with an 11.32 ERA, allowing 13 earned runs over 10 1/3 innings while striking out seven.
The Dodgers expect to lose Font on waivers, as they did another player who was out of options, Trayce Thompson. Font, 27, was named the Pacific Coast League's Pitcher of the Year last year, leading the league in ERA, WHIP, opponents' batting average and strikeouts.
"We needed to make room for Walker, and carrying nine relievers is a little excessive," said manager Dave Roberts. "We just didn't have the innings for him to pitch consistently. We know there's some interest in him in the market and, hopefully, he lands on a Major League club.
Font's most demanding outing came on April 2, when he pitched four scoreless innings of relief before allowing a pair of runs in his fifth inning of work and suffering an 8-7 loss in 15 innings in Arizona.
Injury updates on Forsythe, Hill
• John Forsythe, placed on the 10-day disabled list April 15 with right shoulder inflammation, tested his ability to throw on Monday but still felt discomfort. Forsythe, long a second baseman, developed the inflammation after being required to make longer throws as the fill-in for injured third baseman Justin Turner. It's unclear whether Forsythe will be strictly a second baseman when he returns.
"When he'll be going on a rehab assignment I don't know, but I would say that once it does start, it's for sure a four- or five-game stint at the minimum," said Roberts.
• Rich Hill came out of a Monday bullpen with no discomfort in his left middle finger and is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Tuesday. That would make him a candidate to start Sunday in San Francisco.