With Guillermo Mota suspended for the first four games of the season, as a result of his Spring Training incident with Mike Piazza, the Dodgers chose to carry an extra pitcher when they broke camp. Once Mota finished serving his suspension, L.A. sent down LHP Steve Colyer and promoted Ron Coomer. However, the team is once again carrying 12 pitchers after demoting Jason Romano to make room for Troy Brohawn.

L.A. drafted Colyer out of Meramec Missouri Junior College with their second round pick in the 1997 draft. Colyer spent the 1998 season at Yakima in the Short-Season Northwest League before advancing to A+ San Bernardino in the California League for the 1999 season. He then spent 2000 and 2001 at Vero Beach in the A+ Florida State League, working on his control. Last year, the Dodgers moved him from rotation work into the bullpen while promoting him to AA Jacksonville in the Southern League. His dominance remained excellent, but he continued to have difficulty controlling the ball. He impressed the Dodgers during Spring Training, and they wanted to give him this opportunity to spend a little time in the majors now so that if they needed him later he wouldn't have to deal with the jitters of his first major league call-up.

Colyer made his major league debut in relief of Andy Ashby on April 3rd at San Diego. His outing lasted 2.2 innings during which he allowed 5 H and 1 BB while striking out no one. Gary Bennett provided him with his first major league out, hitting a fly ball to right field. Meanwhile, Mark Loretta was the first major league batter to which the 24-year-old allowed a hit, a single to center.

His control doesn't appear likely to improve in the near future, but his velocity may allow him to pitch effectively without a significant decrease in his walk rate if he can keep his hit rate low to limit his total baserunners allowed. Colyer likely will remain in AAA for at least a month or two, but if he's excelling in the minors and one of the Dodgers' lefties is injured or ineffective, I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in the majors before September.