The list of Los Angeles Dodgers injuries within their pitching staff recently grew to include Clayton Kershaw and Blake Treinen, but trouble began to arise last month with Andrew Heaney and Blake Treinen, among others.
Heaney was placed on the 10-day injured list April 20 due to left shoulder inflammation. Like Treinen, he initially was projected to only be out for a brief stretch. But now one month since his IL stint began, it wasn’t until Tuesday that Heaney threw his first bullpen session.
He only tossed 15 pitches off the mound but came away encouraged by the throwing session that featured fastballs and sliders. Heaney noted he’s in the early process of building shoulder strength and said a return is still “weeks” away.
Prior to coming off the IL, Heaney anticipates needing to throw at least one more bullpen along with facing batters before beginning a rehab assignment with a Minor League affiliate. The Dodgers want Heaney to be stretched back out to four or five innings prior to activating him.
In the meantime, the Dodgers have turned to Tyler Anderson, who began the season filling a role out of the bullpen. Anderson has continued to pitch well and this bounced back from a subpar start against the Philadelphia Phillies by holding the Arizona Diamondbacks to two runs over seven innings.
Andrew Heaney stats with Dodgers
The Dodgers and Heaney were equally optimistic the 30-year-old would have improved results after struggling last year, and that was proving to be true before his shoulder injury.
Through two starts, Heaney turned in 10.1 scoreless innings and collected 16 strikeouts against three walks while pitching with a new slider.
“It kind of helps me when I get put into a bad count,” Heaney said last month about his sweeping slider. “You know, 1-0, 2-0, 3-1, whatever it is, I feel comfortable and confident throwing that, and that’s something that were in the past I’ve kind of felt like I’ve got to throw my best heater there and it kind of backs me into a corner a bit.
“So yeah, definitely opens it up, and I think throwing on the inner half with the heater and then having guys have to respect that has kind of opened up a few other things for me too.”
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