The Los Angeles Dodgers not only lost their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, they also potentially lost Jason Heyward for some time.
Heyward was removed from the series finale early after experiencing left knee pain. He was replaced by Miguel Vargas to begin the third inning.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the 34-year-old suffered the injury while trying to rob a home run from Joc Pederson in the first inning.
“I felt it immediately when I landed,” Heyward said. “The play happened fast. It was one of those in the outfield where it still looks like you can catch the ball. Of course, if I caught it, it would have been like robbing a homer. But that’s usually how those look.
“It’s like hey, you never know, so jump just in case, and it didn’t hook all the way back to me. He hit it well enough, timing is everything on those plays. Bust as soon as I landed, it felt like one of those trust falls. Happened fast and I put my feet down and I was like, ‘Alright, this doesn’t feel great.'”
At first, Heyward made the attempt to stay in the game, but it was decided the best course of action would be to exit the game to get it checked. The next step is for him to undergo an MRI on Friday.
“Adrenaline has definitely worn off,” Heyward explained of the pain. “In the game, while I was still in there, if anything, it felt more like I wasn’t able to fire, I guess, if that makes sense. So that wasn’t feeling like normal.
“Wanted to be able to push through, but then needed to get it looked at and make sure I wasn’t doing any more damage. But we’ll get some imaging on it tomorrow and go from there. That’ll kind of be the only way to know.”
Heyward has dealt with knee injuries in the past, but this is a new type of feeling for him. Until the club has imaging done on the knee, it remains to be seen what his status will be.
“This is the first time anything like this one,” Heyward said. “Had knee injuries before from wear and tear, but nothing structurally this way. So this is the first.”
Will Dodgers place Jason Heyward on injured list?
Roberts said it’s too early to tell if Heyward will need a stint on the injured list, but it can’t be ruled out at this point. The decision will be made following the results of the MRI, but it would not be surprising to see them place him on the IL to rest it regardless of what the results say.
Heyward also isn’t sure if he should be optimistic about a quick return or not, saying he just has to wait for the results.
“During these days now, in general with the body, you just got to wait and see,” Heyward said. “But this particular position and spot, I haven’t felt it before, so it’s a foreign one.”
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