Health/injuries – Page 9 – Dodger Thoughts

Seager to miss up to two weeks with sprained knee

On March 12, 2016

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Spring Training

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Cubs at Dodgers, 6:05 p.m.
Carl Crawford, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, DH
Chase Utley, 3B
Austin Barnes, C
Cody Bellinger, 1B
Charlie Culberson, SS
Micah Johnson, 2B
(Brandon Beachy, P)
Manager: Dave Roberts

Dodgers at Mariners, 6:40 p.m.
Kiké Hernandez, SS
Trayce Thompson, CF
Andre Ethier, LF
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
A.J. Ellis, C
Shawn Zarraga, DH
Rob Segedin, 3B
Alex Hassan, RF
Elian Herrera, 2B
(Carlos Frias, P)
Manager: Bob Geren

By Jon Weisman

Injury concerns dotted the first night of split-squad games for the Dodgers, with the most serious news appearing to be that Corey Seager will miss at least one week because of a sprained left knee.

Seager had an MRI today, one day after he was hurt rounding first base following a base hit against the Angels, as Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reported. Dodger president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters late this afternoon that Seager would be out for one to two weeks.

Seager is 23 days away from beginning his first regular season as a Major League starter. Kiké Hernandez is the Dodgers’ primary backup shortstop, with non-roster infielders Charlie Culberson, Elian Herrera among the bench possibilities.

That left-handed pitcher Alex Wood was scratched from a scheduled start tonight because of forearm tightness seems to be of less concern. Reporters were told that Wood would have pitched had this been a regular-season game. Carlos Frias is starting in his place.

Also pulled from scheduled action tonight was Alex Guerrero, who was supposed to return from a week’s absence at designated hitter against the Mariners, only to be replaced by Shawn Zarraga. Guerrero (left knee soreness) hasn’t played since March 4.

In case you missed it: Tale of two Uriases

By Jon Weisman

On March 11, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Postgame, Spring Training

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Matthew Mesa/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Spirits soared with Julio Urias’ first inning on a Cactus League mound this year, before his second inning reminded us of his youth.

Taking the mound in the seventh inning today against the Angels, Urias struck out the side — before allowing a single, double, triple and walk to the four batters he faced in the eighth inning of what became an 8-4 Dodger loss, recapped by MLB.com.

Urias told AM 570 Dodger Talk’s David Vassegh that he struggled with his fastball command in his second inning of work. Hopefully, it wasn’t from his coffee run earlier today.

.@theteenager7 y @JDL_87 entre los jugadores que fueron por 65 órdenes de @Starbucks por la mañana. (Foto: @kFarm17) pic.twitter.com/nuDFYnJGfv

— Los Dodgers (@LosDodgers) March 11, 2016

The Dodgers lost despite holding the Angels hitless from the second through seventh innings. Zach Lee gave up three hits in the first inning, including a three-run homer, but then faced the minimum over the next two innings. Kenley Jansen, J.P. Howell, Pedro Baez and Louis Coleman each pitched an inning of hitless ball. They were helped by Charlie Culberson, who made two outstanding plays at shortstop today.

What else have we got?

In case you missed it: Lighting up the scoreboard

By Jon Weisman

On March 9, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Managing, Spring Training

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By Jon Weisman

Today, when Dave Roberts had to make his first mid-inning visit to the mound as Dodger manager, to relieve starter Scott Kazmir with two out in the second inning against the Angels, maybe it seemed like a big deal.

It wasn’t.

Time of the nine-inning game was 3:44. Total plate appearances: 96. Total baserunners: 44.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 10, 2016

Kazmir’s five runs allowed were matched by Jeff Weaver of the Angels, only the start of what became a 13-13 tie in Tempe — recapped at MLB.com.

“I honestly think I’m on the right path,” Kazmir said. “If you look at the game and not the box score, it tells a different story.”

But really, this was a day for the offense.

Joc Pederson, Austin Barnes (who had three hits) and Scott Van Slyke homered for the 4-1-2 Dodgers, who have increased their Spring Training OPS to a rather ridiculous .916.

The player who made the biggest impression today was 20-year-old first baseman Cody Bellinger, the theoretical heir to Adrian Gonzalez — if he can wait that long. Bellinger, who is also capable of playing outfield, went 3 for 3 and is impressing Roberts.

“The game doesn’t speed up on him,” Roberts told Ken Gurnick in this feature for MLB.com. “He looks comfortable out there. The more you see, the more you like.”

What else?

Encouraging news on the injury front from Gurnick: Howie Kendrick and Alex Guerrero participated in fielding and hitting drills, Hyun-Jin Ryu threw for the third consecutive day, Justin Turner again played in a minor-league game and Julio Urias had a light bullpen session ahead of his anticipated Cactus League debut Friday.
Brett Anderson spoke at length to Gurnick about beginning his latest rehab from surgery to repair a bulging disc.
Bill Plunkett of the Register looks at the different ways Roberts tries to connect with his players.
Kenta Maeda, who pitches Thursday for the Dodgers, talked to Doug Padilla of ESPN.com about what it would mean if he were able to face off against the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka when the Dodgers go to the Bronx in September.
Skip Schumaker, who had twin .332 on-base and slugging percentages for the Dodgers in 2014, has retired at age 36, ending an 11-year MLB career.

In case you missed it: Young pitchers continue to excel

By Jon Weisman

On March 6, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Postgame, Spring Training

By Jon Weisman

Just like Jose De Leon and Chris Anderson on Saturday, homegrown Dodger pitching prospects Zach Lee and Ross Stripling each threw two shutout innings today.

Chase De Jong, acquired from Toronto in 2015, added two zeroes of his own in the Dodgers’ 5-2 road Cactus League victory over San Francisco, recapped by MLB com.

The first two Giant batters against Lee reached base on a single and an error, but the 24-year-old righty retired the remaining six batters he faced, striking out one and allowing only one more ball out of the infield.

Stripling, 26 and just about two years removed from Tommy John surgery, allowed three baserunners in his two innings, striking out one. De Jong did almost the same — just subtract one baserunner.

If you’re wondering where Julio Urias is in all this, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that he is about a week behind the rest of the staff because of a tight groin muscle. After three days off, Urias threw a bullpen session Friday and is expected to throw another before entering Cactus League play near the end of this week.

The Dodgers are 3-0-1 through four games, with a team ERA of 1.75.

In case you missed it: Wright, De Leon don’t mind the gap

By Jon Weisman

On March 5, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Postgame, Spring Training

https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/706249816687259648

By Jon Weisman

Jamey Wright, born in 1974, pitched the fifth inning for the Dodgers today.

Jose De Leon, born in 1992, pitched the sixth inning for the Dodgers today.

As wide as that age gap was, both could feel pleased with their performances.

Kenta Maeda set for Dodger debut

By Jon Weisman

On March 5, 2016

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Spring Training

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 12:05 p.m.
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Andre Ethier, LF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Yasmani Grandal, C
Corey Seager, SS
Shawn Zarraga, DH
Elian Herrera, 3B
Corey Brown, CF
(Kenta Maeda, P)
Update: Alex Guerrero, originally listed at DH, was a late scratch with left knee soreness.

By Jon Weisman

A sizable media contingent, soon to be followed by a sellout Camelback Ranch crowd, greets Kenta Maeda today for his first start in a Dodger uniform.

“We’re all excited to get him out there,” Dave Roberts said this morning. “He’s excited to get out there. And it’s just more of getting an up-and-down — two innings — controlling those emotions, and just the fastball command. He’s gonna mix in some breaking balls, but I think for the most part it’s that fastball command.”

With Adrian Gonzalez making his first exhibition start today, Roberts also gave an update on Justin Turner, the only likely Opening Day position player who has yet to see Cactus League action.

“He’s doing everything right now as a baseball player, and I think the first thing we’re gonna do is get him in a game as a designated hitter,” Roberts said. “There’s no date yet — as I said early, he wasn’t going to be playing the first week. … But he’s gonna have time to get at-bats, whether on this side or the (minor-league) side, and he’s taking all the grounders, doing everything he needs to do.”

Updates before the Dodgers’ first Cactus road game

By Jon Weisman

On March 4, 2016

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Spring Training

Dodgers at Rangers, 12:05 p.m.
Carl Crawford, LF
Joc Pederson, CF
Chase Utley, 2B
Scott Van Slyke, 1B
Kiké Hernandez, SS
A.J. Ellis, C
Trayce Thompson, RF
Alex Guerrero, DH
Brandon Hicks, 3B
(Scott Kazmir, P)

By Jon Weisman

Adrian Gonzalez’s Cactus League debut has been delayed one more day, to allow him to make his first start in a home game.

“He wanted to be in there today,” Dave Roberts said, “but I just felt that as you come back from his neck, to drive 30 minutes and then have an hour or hour and a half off before you crank it back up to play a game, I’d rather take that extra day and err on the side of caution.”

Dodgers discuss direction after Anderson injury

By Jon Weisman

On March 3, 2016

In Health/injuries, Pitching, Spring Training

By Jon Weisman

In the hours since Brett Anderson’s second disc injury in three years was announced, it was easy to say how easy this was to predict.

But according to Dodger general manager Farhan Zaidi, the people who actually do this kind of prediction said it was highly unlikely.

“Going through the diagnosis yesterday, we were told the chance of recurrence of something like this was pretty low, something around 10 percent of the time,” Zaidi said. “It’s obviously an unfortunate thing to happen. He had a healthy season last year, (and) he came in this year in great shape, was doing a lot of preventative stuff to keep something like this from happening.

“In (asking) the doctors, ‘Was this a single traumatic thing, was it something that happened over time?’ — it really could be either. But it was obviously a very quick thing from throwing live BP and looking great, to feeling something, to having some tests done and realizing that he needed surgery. … The fortunate part of it is we’re still hopeful we see him at some point this season, most likely in the second half. But just to get back, the actuarial chances of recurrence are really low in this case, so it was just a bit of bad luck.”

Speaking shortly after striking out two in his two-inning Spring Training debut today, Clayton Kershaw didn’t downplay the significance of what Anderson’s injury meant.

Surgery for bulging disc sidelines Brett Anderson

By Jon Weisman

On March 3, 2016

In Health/injuries

By Jon Weisman

Brett Anderson is expected to miss three to five months of action because of a bulging disc in his back, Dave Roberts said today.

In case you missed it: Injured pitchers look to regroup

By Jon Weisman

On March 2, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Spring Training

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCdXwharEF1/?taken-by=dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Was it the Dodger Insider jinx for Brett Anderson?

Anderson was scheduled for tests on his lower back today, after tweaking it at the end of live batting practice Tuesday (the day he was profiled here), according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

At least temporarily, Anderson becomes one of two 28-year-old lefties on the Dodger sidelines. Hyun-Jin Ryu is taking some extra time between bullpen sessions, reports Gurnick.

“There’s definitely no pain,” Ryu said. “A little typical soreness. I’m very happy and satisfied with the timetable.”

Meanwhile, the Dodgers said that right-hander Josh Ravin is expected to return in eight to 12 weeks following Tuesday’s surgery on his broken left radius.

What else can I tell you?

Andre Ethier slides into third safely during today’s situational game.

In a prelude to Thursday’s Cactus League opener, the Dodgers played a situational game in which they fielded two teams and played out all kinds of different batting and fielding scenarios. If you’re curious, I streamed some video of the first inning on Periscope.
Clayton Kershaw is expected to go two innings in Thursday’s Spring Training debut, unless he has a particularly long first inning, Dave Roberts said.
Dodger hitting coach Turner Ward spoke to Gurnick about Joc Pederson — and to Arizona slugger Paul Goldschmidt about Ward.
The balancing act that is Julio Urias’ innings load as he develops into a Major Leaguer is examined by Dylan Hernandez of the Times.
Earlier this week, Hernandez spoke to Kershaw, among others, about the state of Yasiel Puig.
The Dodgers lead the Major Leagues in players projected to be worth at least one win above replacement this year, according to Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs.

Josh Ravin breaks left forearm in car accident

By Jon Weisman

On March 1, 2016

In Health/injuries, Spring Training

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Right-handed pitcher Josh Ravin is having surgery today on his left radius (forearm) after being injured in a car accident Monday night. The victim of that accident can click for more info.

He may experience chronic pain and would benefit from consulting a CHRONIC PAIN doctor to help manage his recovery and ensure a full and healthy return to the mound. The Sweet Lawyers – personal injury lawyers can also be of help in such cases.

The good news is that Ravin, who pitched 9 1/3 innings for the Dodgers last year while spending most of 2015 with Oklahoma City, is otherwise unharmed.

Ravin tweeted this yesterday. He's always positive but this makes more sense now. Wish him a strong recovery. https://t.co/MpmgGwii1H

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) March 1, 2016

It can ALWAYS be worse.#blessed

— Josh Ravin™ (@Freshsqueezed71) March 1, 2016

In other news this morning:

Yaisel Sierra is cleared to work out and was scheduled to throw today and go through drills with the pitchers. Dave Roberts said the Dodgers plan to treat him as a reliever this spring. “That’s the nice thing in a sense,” Roberts said. “We’re not too worried about stretching him out.”
You could also get reports on accidents with the help of Accident Reports MD.
Justin Turner is eager to go full bore, but is “trusting the process, trusting the coaching staff,” Roberts said. It is better to find out here through a lawyer and know what to do next.
Adrian Gonzalez is on a regular workout schedule, and his neck is not an issue at this moment. “Today we talked, and he feels good,” Roberts said. “That’s just something early on in spring, if there’s something that comes up we want to identify it and take that day (off) early.” When it comes to injury cases, the Vukelja & dePaula lawyers help get legal aid.

In case you missed it: Adrian Gonzalez’s nicked neck

By Jon Weisman

On February 28, 2016

In Health/injuries, Infield

By Jon Weisman

Adrian Gonzalez missed today’s on-field workout after irritating a bulging disc in his neck during Saturday baserunning drills.

The devastating Pedro Guerrero slip-and-slide

By Jon Weisman

On February 28, 2016

In Health/injuries, History

By Jon Weisman

Pedro Guerrero’s slide that wasn’t into third base still haunts me. And it was 30 years ago.

Guerrero was at his peak — in fact, he was at everyone’s peak. Having hit 15 home runs in June 1985 alone, finishing the year with a National League-leading .999 OPS and 182 OPS+, Guerrero was the rightful NL Most Valuable Player, even if voters didn’t see it that way.

When Guerrero arrived at Spring Training in 1986, he seemed more than a little aware of his stature. But the media played into that. Some of the coverage bears a striking resemblance to that of Yasiel Puig over the past 2 1/2 years, in that things that should have been unremarkable were treated as the opposite.

According to Gordon Edes of the Times, there was a pool among the beat writers, players and even “a certain manager,” betting on when Guerrero would actually show up in Vero Beach. (Bob Hunter of the Daily News won.) But Guerrero wasn’t late to Spring Training. He was more than on time. He just wasn’t as early as others.

Guerrero did admit to Edes that if it were up to him, he would skip Spring Training entirely. “But if I do that and hit .210, you guys (reporters) would be all over my butt,” he said.

So Guerrero arrived. He had one hit in his first 16 at-bats, then suddenly smacked six doubles and a triple as Grapefruit League play heated up. No one worried about Pedro Guerrero, the player who was, as I’ll never tire of quoting Bill James as saying, “the best hitter God had made in a long time.”

In case you missed it: Pulling Puig’s teeth

By Jon Weisman

On February 25, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Spring Training

Dave Roberts speaks to the team today during first full-squad meeting of the year.

By Jon Weisman

On the day TMZ rumored that Yasiel Puig was getting the world’s greatest helicopter, the Dodger outfielder’s chopper concerns were much more down to earth. Like so many of us have, Puig went through the rite of passage of having his wisdom teeth removed after going to the emergency dental care center on Tuesday.

According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Puig’s jaw remained swollen today. It’s hoped he’ll return to baseball activity Friday.

Rise and shine. #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/UZCJZUD5qo

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 25, 2016

Meanwhile, sink your pearly whites into these morsels…

In case you missed it: Ryu — and Wood — on recovery path

By Jon Weisman

On February 22, 2016

In Health/injuries, In case you missed it, Spring Training

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

It’s a long season as you know, and the Dodgers can benefit tremendously from the return of Hyun-Jin Ryu, even if he’s not on the active roster Opening Day.

So it’s all good that Ryu had a strong bullpen session today, as Ken Gurnick of MLB.com writes …

Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Category: Health/injuries (Page 9 of 33)

Seager to miss up to two weeks with sprained knee

In case you missed it: Tale of two Uriases

In case you missed it: Lighting up the scoreboard

In case you missed it: Young pitchers continue to excel

In case you missed it: Wright, De Leon don’t mind the gap

Kenta Maeda set for Dodger debut

Updates before the Dodgers’ first Cactus road game

Dodgers discuss direction after Anderson injury

Surgery for bulging disc sidelines Brett Anderson

In case you missed it: Injured pitchers look to regroup

Josh Ravin breaks left forearm in car accident

In case you missed it: Adrian Gonzalez’s nicked neck

The devastating Pedro Guerrero slip-and-slide

In case you missed it: Pulling Puig’s teeth

In case you missed it: Ryu — and Wood — on recovery path

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