Justin Turner was out of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for the final two games of the series at Petco Park and again didn’t start Friday or Saturday against the Colorado Rockies.
Turner has been dealing with a contusion in his left leg that he originally injured after fouling a ball off his foot in the first game of a doubleheader with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 20.
The next day Turner took a swing that caused his shin to “bark” before he played through it for the following week.
On Friday, the 37-year-old said his shin is doing “alright,” but added he is remaining out of the lineup to make sure he is ready for October. “Just thought that let’s try to take a few days and get it completely out of there so I can go into the last few days of the season and the postseason feeling good,” Turner said.
Turner said the injury didn’t require any fluids to be drained, and there were no signs of bruising on his leg when he showed it to reporters on Friday. Turner added he doesn’t believe it will linger once he returns to the lineup and he has been getting work done on his shin by the Dodgers training staff.
“Just treatment, just good old Nate Lucero’s hands, you know, pushing things around down there,” Turner said. “So I’ll be all good.”
The Dodgers only have 10 more days before the playoffs begin on Oct. 11 at Dodger Stadium, but there is no concern that Turner won’t be ready to start their first game.
“You know, I think if we were in the postseason now, he would be in there,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that guarding against any regression is where we’re at right now. Is there a chance that he can be in there tomorrow? Potentially, but we’ll see where he’s at. But each day it’s been getting better.”
Justin Turner uplifts CHLA patients
Turner again partnered with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) to have patients custom design pairs of Adidas cleats that he then wore during the doubleheader against the Diamondbacks.
Turner pre-recorded a message that was played for Kaylene, 17, and Arthur, 12, because of the visitation restrictions still in place. This marked the sixth consecutive season Turner partnered with CHLA to help provide a unique opportunity.
“This year they actually got to design a full pair of cleats. In the past, it was four kids who would each do half a cleat, or four kids each would do one cleat,” Turner told DodgerBlue.com.
“This year it was two kids and they each got full cleats. From the looks of the cleats, how well they came out and the amount of detail that went into them, I’d be willing to bet they definitely took more than one little coloring session.”
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
