Dodgers manager: Brandon Beachy could start Saturday

After almost a two-year hiatus from the major leagues, Brandon Beachy could make his long-awaited return to the mound this weekend for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly indicated Tuesday that Beachy, who hasn't pitched in the majors since August 2013 due to ceaseless injury problems, is a candidate to start Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Chavez Ravine.

Beachy, 28, has started five games in the minor leagues this season, his first competitive action since undergoing his second career Tommy John surgery in March of 2014. Though he owns a sterling 2.65 ERA over 17 minor-league innings in 2015, he has logged just 101 innings in the majors over the last four years.

Beachy was limited to just 13 starts for the Atlanta Braves in 2012 after having his ulnar collateral ligament replaced (for the first time in his career), and tossed just 30 innings the following year before an ankle injury ended his season.

Though he was primed to open the following campaign in Atlanta's rotation, his faulty elbow once again refused to co-operate, prompting a second Tommy John surgery that prevented him from pitching in 2014 and compelled the Braves to release him during the offseason.

Beachy nonetheless received a one-year deal with the Dodgers in February that includes a club option for the 2016 season. Over parts of four seasons in the majors, he owns a 3.23 ERA (121 ERA+) with a 3.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio.