Los Angeles Dodgers: Breaking News and Quotes on Injured Players
It's nearly impossible to pin down even just a few reasons for the struggles of the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, much less a single problem that has Don Mattingly's club hanging so tenuously above the cellar of the National League West.
Some may point to the long-running fiasco known otherwise as the divorce proceedings between owners Frank and Jamie McCourt, with the involvement of MLB commissioner and noted administrative sloth Bud Selig taking his sweet time to do anything of consequence.
Others may look to problems on the field, where the Blue Crew is average or below average in just about every important statistical category.
Even with stellar everyday play from Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier coupled with the continued improvement of staff ace Clayton Kershaw, Don Mattingly's club still can't seem to come through in the clutch.
All of that still leaves out consideration of injuries and the bullpen—two things that seemingly go hand in hand with this year's club.
I had a chance to catch up with "Donnie Baseball" and team trainer Stan Conte to get the latest on rash of injuries that has turned the pitching mound at Dodger Stadium into a veritable infirmary.
Read on to find out when the team's walking wounded are due back.
Hong-Chih Kuo
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Lefty set-up man Hong-Chih Kuo had been on the disabled list since early May, as he's dealt with anxiety issues that have long plagued him.
Team trainer Stan Conte emphasized the importance of testing Kuo's mental fortitude in tough spots:
""We wanted to put him into a situation that was fairly high pressure. I didn’t know they’d find a bases loaded with one out situation but they did, and, again, that’s all we can do with him is to increase the pressure and see how he reacts to it, and he’s doing very, very well."
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More specifically, as Mattingly reminded us:
""He’s got a good look in his eyes, so it looks like he’s happy and Stan [Conte] said he feels good and obviously the ball came out of his hand well. We brought him in bases loaded, I think, last outing and he got two strike outs, so that’s a good sign."
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The plan going forward, according to both Mattingly and Conte, is to give Kuo some rest until Sunday after having him pitch on back-to-back days during the Dodgers' series sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds.
Kuo has also struggled with elbow problems throughout his career. As such, both Mattingly and Conte confirmed that Kuo would throw a bullpen session before Sunday to make sure that he's good to go physically.
Perhaps most poignantly, when asked whether Kuo would be the team's closer, Mattingly responded, "Maybe."
Jonathan Broxton
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The situation with ex-closer Jonathan Broxton didn't seem to be quite as hopeful. The hefty reliever landed on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 4 to recover from a bone bruise on his right elbow.
Broxton threw about 25 pitches during a simulated game before Thursday's contest against the Houston Astros, about which Mattingly seemed tempered in his optimism.
""I think the next step would be for him to go out and face guys in game competition. When that would be, I’m not sure. Obviously, I want to make sure that he comes out of this okay and then make a decision on when and where. It’s hard to tell with these kind of games.
"There’s just no energy and guys really don’t want to be in there honestly hitting, so it’s hard to get a real good read. More than anything, just seeing where the ball is going, how it’s coming out, it seems to be coming out all right."
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In speaking about a rehab schedule for Broxton, Conte said that he would most likely join the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, "within the next couple days" and would make at least two appearances to shake off the rust that has undoubtedly built up in the 44 days since JB last pitched in live game action.
Kenley Jansen
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Young flame-throwing righty Kenley Jansen had struggled this season before being put on the DL with right shoulder inflammation at the end of May.
Jansen recently completed a rehab assignment with the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Dodgers' Double-A affiliate, and has since rejoined the big club in anticipation of being reactivated this weekend.
According to Mattingly, the Dodgers are "probably going to make a decision on him pretty quickly" after Jansen threw a strong bullpen session on Wednesday.
Conte expounded on Mattingly's comments, saying:
""He had a good outing last night. He came out, his shoulder felt good from what we said. See how he comes back today to make sure he’s okay and then that’s kind of what we do, we check the next day when he throws, so that will determine the next step."
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Mattingly mused that Jansen could be ready to return as soon as Saturday.
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Vicente Padilla
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The Dodgers had hoped that Vicente Padilla could be a stretch guy for them this year, making a few starts while primarily coming out of the bullpen.
Unfortunately, those plans came to a grinding half when Padilla ended up on the 15-day DL in mid-May with right radial nerve irritation which, during a rehab assignment at Class A Rancho Cucamonga, turned into a bigger neck problem, for which Padilla recently underwent surgery.
Stan Conte described the procedure—a discectomy—as follows:
""He basically took out the bulge from the disc in the cervical spine. They need to fuse to the two segments, so what they do is they take a bone graft and they put that in the front and they put a metal plate in to hold the two pieces together and it fuses so there’s no movement when they take the disc out. The bone acts like a bridge and it fuses the two vertebrae together."
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When asked whether Padilla would be able to return to action this season, Conte went on:
""If you look at the healing time of the bone graft, and where we are in the time of year and when the season ends, it gets pretty tight. That said, he’d have to probably be throwing at about six or seven weeks to really make that. That probably is highly optimistic, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility."
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Mattingly wasn't quite as optimistic in his evaluation of a potential timetable:
""I know that when we first talked about this, it was going to be lengthy. It wasn’t going to be something in the near future. It’s one of those things that if it went really well, he’d have a shot but it’s pretty much long term."
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Jon Garland
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The prospects don't seem to be quite as dire for starting pitcher Jon Garland. The big righty went on the DL retroactive to June 2 with inflammation in his right shoulder.
Mattingly would not go into the specifics of the problem, only to say that there it's "it’s not necessarily new damage," saying:
""It’s stuff that’s been there. In the past, he’s been able to pop back pretty quick. This one, he hasn’t been able to bounce back as quickly as he has in the past."
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Conte didn't have much to say about the extent of the injury either other than to reiterate that:
""We did an MRI in December and there was no change from the MRI from before, so there’s nothing new that’s going on in there, but it’s obviously very inflamed."
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As for Garland's return, Conte couldn't speculate about specifics other than to say that Garland isn't likely to go under the knife and that:
""He’s seeing Dr. (Neal) El-Attrache tonight to see when he can start throwing and until he starts throwing, we can’t really tell much of anything, so I really can’t be optimistic or pessimistic."
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All of which begs the question: why did the Dodgers bother signing Garland if they knew he had lingering shoulder problems?
Casey Blake
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Moving from the pitching mount to the batter's box, third baseman Casey Blake hasn't gotten much playing time recently, but he has been used as a pinch hitter four times in the past week while suffering from a pinched nerve in his neck.
Mattingly and Conte both confirmed that Blake received a cortisone injection into his neck joints after Wednesday's game to help relieve the pain, with Conte explaining that Blake has suffered from arthritis in his neck for quite some time.
The manager emphasized the importance of Blake getting back into his routine:
""He hadn’t been able to get on the field and really do much. I know he’s pinch hit, but he doesn’t really get a whole lot. Today, he’ll go through more, you know, just to see exactly how we’re going to be able to use him, how much, how he feels after this.
"I know he still feels a little something, but I’m sure he’ll be able to do BP today, field ground balls, throwing, give us a better idea of how we’ll be able to use him in the short term here."
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When asked whether Blake might be headed to the DL, Mattingly would neither confirm nor deny the possibility:
""If he feels better, we’ll see how it goes today. We’re really trying to find out today if he’s even going to be able to throw the ball across from third. You know, is that a possibility? We really want to be able to use him the way we’ve always used him, maybe first, maybe third depending on the situation."
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Hopefully, for the Dodgers' sake, they'll see Casey at the bat sometime this weekend.
What to Make of the Injuries?
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All told, the Dodgers should have Kuo, Jansen and Blake ready for the weekend. The time tables for Broxton and Garland are a bit more long-term, with both still due for minor league rehab assignments. As for Padilla, it seems unlikely that he'll be back pitching for the Blue Crew this season.
At this point, LA's issues extend far beyond the players who aren't healthy enough to give it a go.
The pitching staff got off to a strong start this season but has since tailed off, perhaps in part due to paltry run support from the offense.
It became a bit clearer just what the problem was following Thursday's 7-3 loss at home to the Astros—a lack of patience.
The Dodgers struggled to get anything going against Houston's Brett Myers, who came in with a record of 2-6, an ERA of 5.03 and an opponent's batting average of .276, and left with a complete game win in which he allowed only four hits and a walk while throwing a mere 98 pitches.
Myers even retired 17 Dodgers in a row at one point, which made the fact that he'd thrown only 81 pitches through eight innings believable, if not entirely disappointing from LA's perspective.
As such, even if the Dodgers get all of their guys back healthy, they'll still have to grapple with the fact that they just can't seem to get on base enough or, subsequently, score enough runs to keep up in the NL West.
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