When the Los Angeles Dodgers took the field for their series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, one noticeable absence from their lineup was Cody Bellinger.
After a slow start to the season, Bellinger has been swinging the bat really well as of late, hitting .341/.438/.854 with six home runs and 11 RBI in his last 11 games. Overall in 35 games this season, Bellinger is batting .225/.305/.478 with five doubles, 10 home runs and 22 RBI.
Considering the Dodgers had a scheduled off day on Monday, it was a bit interesting that Bellinger was out of the lineup for Tuesday night’s game. The Dodgers were able to take care of business without him, however, beating the Diamondbacks, 6-3, in their series opener.
It turns out the reason Bellinger was left out of the lineup was injury-related as he is dealing with a sore lat muscle, although it isn’t believed to be serious.
“It happened in the cage, right before batting practice. He was swinging and felt it on his right lat. Just felt it on a swing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained. “It wasn’t oblique, it was more up there in the lat. Just felt it tighten up, so didn’t want to push it. He ran, threw and felt good. We just wanted to err on the side of caution.”
Luckily for the Dodgers, they have a sizable lead in the National League West, so they can afford to give Bellinger as much time as he needs to get back to being 100% healthy before returning to the field.
“Talking to him, he felt better with treatment, but it’s one of those things we’re going to get let him get loose, go through his routine and see where we’re at,” Roberts said about Bellinger potentially returning Wednesday.
The injury comes at an unfortunate time considering how well Bellinger has been swinging the bat over the last two weeks, although there is still a month until the start of the postseason.
Turner lands on 10-day IL
Bellinger isn’t the only Dodgers star dealing with an injury as Justin Turner left a game against the Texas Rangers over the weekend with a hamstring issue after sliding into second base.
Like Bellinger, Turner’s injury isn’t believed to be all that serious although the Dodgers decided to place him on the 10-day injured list Tuesday to give him time to recover.
Without Turner for the next couple of weeks, and potentially Bellinger as well, other hitters on the Dodgers’ roster will have to pick up the slack to fill in for their No. 3 and 4 hitters in the lineup.
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