The Los Angeles Dodgers recently welcomed back Clayton Kershaw and Andrew Heaney from lengthy stints on the injured list, but several key pitchers remain sidelined for the foreseeable future. Additionally, Heaney was put back on the 15-day IL because of a left shoulder strain.
Walker Buehler isn’t expected to return until September at the earliest, Dustin May could be back on a Major League mound sometime after the All-Star break and Blake Treinen recently stopped short of setting a timeline for when he may rejoin the Dodgers, which isn’t expected to be for at least another month.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently estimated Danny Duffy, Tommy Kahnle and Victor González were likely not due to return until September. However, he revised that for the trio, along with Treinen, as they may start to come off the IL in August, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Treinen is projected to return from his shoulder injury in August. So is Kahnle (forearm) who just began a throwing program. Lefties Danny Duffy (flexor tendon surgery last fall) and Victor Gonzalez (debridement surgery on his elbow in May) have begun throwing bullpen sessions and could also return in the second half.
The Dodgers originally acquired Duffy at the MLB trade deadline last year while he was on the 10-day IL, with the hope a full recovery would come in time to pitch again during the 2021 season.
Although that never came to be, the team re-signed Duffy during the offseason despite knowing he would be unavailable for quite some time after undergoing surgery to repair his left flexor tendon.
González enjoyed a strong Spring Training and looked like a lock for the bullpen, but then started suffering from left elbow inflammation prior to the season beginning. The Dodgers placed on him the 10-day IL when setting their Opening Day roster, and he wound up undergoing surgery last month.
As for Kahnle, he wasn’t activated until May 1 and only appeared in four games before going on the 10-day IL due to a bone bruise in his right elbow that is some residual effects of undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Dodgers not expecting Mookie Betts back within two weeks
In other injury news, Mookie Betts suffered a rib fracture on his right side after colliding with Cody Bellinger in the finale of the Freeway Series.
Betts was twice scratched from the Dodgers lineup before undergoing an MRI that revealed the full extent of his injury. He was placed on the 10-day IL with only a faint idea — and hope — of missing roughly two weeks.
But Betts has yet to resume baseball activities and Roberts acknowledged a return within the initial timeline is no longer likely.
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