PHOENIX -- The Dodgers optioned relievers Adam Liberatore and Josh Fields to the Minor Leagues on Tuesday night, essentially finalizing their pitching staff.
The moves leave starting pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Alex Wood, plus relievers Kenley Jansen, Sergio Romo, Grant Dayton, Luis Avilan, Thomas Stripling and Chris Hatcher. McCarthy and Wood are the remaining candidates for the fifth-starter spot, with the other going to the bullpen.
The left-handed Liberatore is coming off October elbow surgery, and his chances to make the Opening Day pitching staff were further impacted when it was decided that if Wood isn't a starter, he would be a reliever. With Dayton, Avilan and Wood, the Dodgers would have three left-handers in the bullpen.
The right-handed Fields has struggled this spring, lacking the velocity that enticed the Dodgers to acquire him from Houston last summer.