Joc Pederson became the third Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder to land on the 10-day disabled list this season. First was Andre Ethier, who began the year on the DL, and he was followed by Franklin Gutierrez nearly two weeks ago.
At the time of landing on the DL, Gutierrez voiced confidence he’d make a quick return. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts projected the 34-year-old would miss anywhere from one to three weeks. More recently, Gutierrez was expected to be activated during the series against the San Francisco Giants.
However, he was hit by a pitch while getting at-bats in at Camelback Ranch, delaying the expected return. That’s been pushed back a second time after Roberts saw video of Gutierrez running, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“I saw a video today of Franklin running, and for me it was about 80 percent,” Roberts said. “We’ll get him into some rehab games. I thought it would be earlier, but I don’t think Franklin will be joining us until next week sometime.”
Gutierrez only appeared in six games before experiencing hamstring tightness on a stolen base attempt in the second inning on April 10. He went 3-for-13 with two runs scored, two doubles, one walk and four strikeouts.
Of Guttierrez’s 14 plate appearances thus far, 13 have come against left-handed pitching. He was signed by the Dodgers during the offseason to a one-year contract under the expectation he’d help the team improve against southpaws.
The Dodgers’ outfield currently consists of Brett Eibner, Kiké Hernandez, Yasiel Puig, Andrew Toles and Scott Van Slyke. Though, Cody Bellinger is entering the fray Tuesday.
