The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Edwin Ríos on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain and selected the contract of utility man Eddy Alvarez from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t exactly sure how severe Ríos’ injury is, but described it as a “Grade 3 or Grade 4 tear.”
Ríos suffered the injury in Thursday’s series opener against the New York Mets, and he was replaced by Hanser Alberto in the eighth inning.
“When he was running, trying to beat out that double play ball yesterday, I think it’s his right hamstring, lower hamstring, part of the tendon or the muscle came off the bone,” Roberts said. “So it’s not the belly of the hamstring.”
“It is not going to require surgery, but it’s going to be a handful of weeks until we even consider having him back.”
Ríos was finally getting an opportunity in an everyday role with Max Muncy on the 10-day injured list and he was impressive in his opportunities. The 28-year-old appeared in 27 games and hit .244/.293/.500 with seven home runs, a .341 wOBA and 121 wRC+.
Alvarez, 32, has experience at second base, third base and shortstop. He made his MLB debut with the Miami Marlins last year and appeared in 24 games for the club this past season before he was outrighted off their 40-man roster in October.
The Miami native has hit .188/.287/.287 with five doubles, one triple, one home run and eight RBI over his limited opportunities at the Major League level thus far, but has found more success in Triple-A, where he is a career .283/.386/.456 batter.
“Eddy certainly gives us a lot of versatility on the defensive side,” Roberts said. “It’s another left-handed bat. Obviously, we have Zach McKinstry, who is a similar type player. So we’ll have to make a decision once Max is clear to go.”
The versatile infielder also has a unique story in that he’s one of just six athletes to ever win medals in different sports at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Alvarez played for Team USA last year and earned a silver medal, and he previously took home silver as part of the U.S. 5000m relay speed-skating team at the 2014 Winter Games.
Dodgers lose Kevin Pillar
The Dodgers lost another contributor this week as Kevin Pillar was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left shoulder fracture.
The veteran outfielder sustained the injury during the Dodgers’ loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. He was removed in the sixth inning to what initially appeared to be a lower-body injury.
However, Roberts later revealed Pillar’s left shoulder twice popped out and back into place during the game. “The socket part basically broke in half,” Pillar explained. “It was a shock. It’s definitely a gut punch. It was devastating.”
Pillar now likely faces shoulder surgery but he hopes to return at some point this season. “It’s a bummer. It sucks,” Pillar said of potentially needing an operation.
“But I’ve learned to look at everything as part of this baseball journey. It’s just another chapter in my career. I’m excited to have the surgery and start the road to recovery and see where it takes me.”
Pillar was transferred to the 60-day IL in order to make room for Alvarez on the 40-man roster.
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