What It Means:

According to Callaway, Salazar is ready to throw 65-70 pitches in an outing, so he should be able to get a World Series start versus the Chicago Cubs. A strained right flexor muscle has kept the right-hander off the mound since September. Expect to see Salazar get the call for Game 4, following Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer and Josh Tomlin. Ryan Merritt has also made the roster, presumably for long relief duties.

Salazar posted a 3.87 ERA with a career-worst 3.86 SIERA in 25 regular season starts. His 26.7 percent strikeout rate was above his career average, but he also posted a career-worst 10.8 percent walk rate.