Hanley Ramirez Injury: Updates on Dodgers Star's Elbow and Return

Updates from Wednesday, Sept. 17

The Dodgers confirmed that Hanley Ramirez will not play in Wednesday's game:

Don Mattingly spoke on Ramirez's condition prior to the game (via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times):

Original Text

Health becomes even more important as the MLB season enters the stretch run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Hanley Ramirez are finding that out the hard way.     

Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times and Ken Gurnick of MLB.com filled fans in on the details regarding Ramirez’s latest ailment:

Although Ramirez would eventually make an appearance in the top of the 6th inning as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register points out: 

Ramirez would strike out. 

The Dodgers are four games up on the San Francisco Giants in the National League West race and could certainly use Ramirez’s bat in the lineup. He is hitting .278 on the 2014 campaign with 13 home runs, 69 RBI and 14 stolen bases.

He is hitting .340 in September and has bounced back from a rather lackluster July. If Ramirez continues to hit at an impressive clip, it makes an already dangerous Dodgers lineup all the more formidable entering the postseason.  

He has to stay healthy first, though.