They purchased Traxler's contract from Albuquerque and promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut on April 24, 1990, replacing Eddie Murray at first base after the veteran was ejected from the game by umpire Harry Wendelstedt. In his lone at bat of the contest, he struck out against Bob Tewksbury, but the Dodgers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3–0. Traxler got his first and only start in the major leagues at first base on May 8 against the Montreal Expos. He had no hits in two at bats before being pinch-hit for in the seventh inning by John Shelby as the Dodgers lost 9–1. Still batting .000 after his first six games, Traxler got his first career hit on May 10 with a pinch-hit double against Dennis Martínez in an 8–2 loss to the Expos. He would have had another double on May 13 against David Cone of the New York Mets, but the game was rained out, and the statistics from the game did not count. In his ninth game for the Dodgers, on May 21, he played first base for only the third time when he replaced Mickey Hatcher for the final two innings of a 12–3 loss to the Mets. Traxler's family hoped to see him play when the Dodgers travelled to Chicago to take on the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 23, but the Dodgers sent Traxler back to Albuquerque the day before so that they could activate Pat Perry from the disabled list. In nine games with the Dodgers, he batted .091 with one hit and four strikeouts in 11 at bats. Albuquerque Dukes (1990-1993) Traxler would remain at Albuquerque for the rest of the 1990 season. Bone spurs in his elbow limited him to 98 games with the Triple-A club. He batted .277 with 43 runs scored, 88 hits, seven home runs, and 53 RBI. Traxler had the bone spurs removed in 1991, but the Dodgers sent him back to San Antonio to recover. He spent most of the season with the Double-A team, batting .256 with 50 runs scored, 97 hits, seven home runs, and 61 RBI in 103 games. Traxler also played 18 games for Albuquerque, batting .357 with three runs scored, 10 hits, one home run, and eight RBI. During the 1990-91 offseason, Traxler had skipped playing winter ball because his first child was born. However,