No question, the opening game of the San Diego series on Friday evening was perhaps the most exciting contest of the year so far for the Los Angeles Dodgers, living up to the hype that was thrown upon these two teams by most of the national media.
In case you missed some of the conversations leading up to the final out, there was some news that broke which had impacts on several of the Dodgers’ current injuries.
The biggest news of the day surrounded Cody Bellinger when skipper Dave Roberts told reporters that scans indicated a break in his left fibula—not a bruise that was initially diagnosed.
Roberts explained that there is no exact timetable for a return, but he’s hoping to have Bellinger available within a week or two.
“I can say comfortably that it’s not a day-to-day thing,” Roberts said on Friday. “We can kind of just put it on the backburner, let Cody do his rehab and join us hopefully soon.”
Bellinger suffered the injury when former Los Angeles farmhand Reymin Guduan stepped on his leg at first base in an interleague matchup early last week.
Since Bellinger’s injury, the Dodgers have used all three of Chris Taylor, AJ Pollock, and Mookie Betts in center field. For the season, Taylor has already logged nine appearances in center.
Another development on Friday saw reliever Brusdar Graterol joining the team’s taxi squad, but the good news for the righty flamethrower is that he might be activated to the 26-man roster as early as the middle game of the series on Saturday.
Before Friday’s contest, Roberts told the media that Graterol’s activation would depend on how many pitchers the Dodgers used in the opener. As it turned out, Los Angeles sent seven pitchers to the mound in the 12-inning victory, including one-plus innings from both Kenley Jansen and the eventual winner, David Price.
To the contrary, there have been rumblings the Dodgers may activate lefty reliever Alex Vesia ahead of Saturday’s middle game.
TBPC profiled Vesia in late February.
In other news, infielder Gavin Lux has been dealing with a wrist injury and is listed as day to day for the San Diego series. Roberts said that he believes Lux was improving and that he was available to run or play defense in the opener, but not available to hit.
Pollock is also still listed as day to day after dealing with some minor groin issues when running the bases against the Rockies in the series finale on Thursday.
“AJ went down the line early in the game to leg out a single and his left groin tightened up a little bit,” Roberts said after Thursday’s contest.
Zach McKinstry started at second base for the Dodgers on Friday. Raley garnered another start in left field.
There are still no new developments regarding any progress on either Joe Kelly or Tony Gonsolin.
In Saturday’s middle game, Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw will be opposed by San Diego righty Yu Darvish. First pitch is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. Pacific time.
