The Los Angeles Dodgers have been beset by injuries this season and now need to monitor Joe Kelly after he tweaked his hamstring en route to converting the save opportunity against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
Kelly came up gingerly after going to field a slow roller up the third-base line, which he got to but couldn’t make a throw to first base because his right foot gave out. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and a trainer checked on the right-hander, who remained in the game.
Although Kelly managed to finish out the save, he limped through the handshake line and into the dugout.
“We’ll see. From what I understand, it was his hamstring when he tried to make that play on the swinging bunt off the bat of Cron,” Roberts said after the win. “He’s hobbled a little bit. I guess we’ll know [Monday] once he comes in for treatment on the travel day, and we can assess then.”
The save was Kelly’s first since July 14, 2019, which also was for the Dodgers and came against his former Boston Red Sox team, and just the fourth of his career. Sunday’s appearance was only Kelly’s second since throwing 1.2 innings on July 20.
He was rendered unavailable because of what Roberts only described as arm soreness. Kelly pitching on Saturday was a bit of a surprise considering Roberts had implied he would likely be unavailable until the series finale.
If Kelly needs to spend time on the 10-day injured list or simply not pitch for a game or two, the Dodgers just welcomed back Jimmy Nelson. He had been out since July 7 because of a left lumbar strain.
Dodgers lose Betts
Nelson returning on Sunday was the corresponding roster move to the Dodgers at last putting Betts on the 10-day IL due to right hip inflammation. He played through hip trouble during the first half of the season and aggravated it on July 24.
Betts hadn’t been in the lineup since that point and only made one pinch-hit appearance over the past week. The Dodgers were hopeful he would be back in the lineup for this week’s series against the San Francisco Giants.
Betts’ IL stint is retroactive to July 22, which makes him eligible to be reinstated on Sunday, Aug. 1.
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