It is no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen has struggled, but with the trade deadline less than two weeks away, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has the ability to address it.
The need for a reliever or two became even more apparent on Saturday, when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave an update on injured left-hander Scott Alexander. He has been out since June 5 due to left forearm inflammation.
However, it was recently revealed that Alexander is also dealing with a thumb issue. Roberts has explained Alexander’s thumb is bothering him because of a nerve issue, and he doesn’t expect the southpaw to step onto a mound until he has the ability to feel the ball better.
“There’s a little bit of nerve, some stuff going on with his nerve in the thumb. He hasn’t had the feel for the baseball in quite some time and we were kind of trying to figure out why,” Roberts said.
“So it was diagnosed that something in his thumb that there’s a little bit of kind of nerve, I wouldn’t say damage, it might be damage, but it’s something that with time, and how much time that is, he can be back to a full recovery but it is hard to throw when you can’t feel the baseball.”
With Alexander and Tony Cingrani both being injured and Caleb Ferguson taking a step back after a breakout 2018 season, the Dodgers’ need for a left-handed reliever at the deadline has become readily apparent.
In 28 games this season, Alexander has gone 3-2 with a 3.63 ERA, 5.01 FIP and 1.39 WHIP with nine strikeouts and seven walks in 17.1 innings.
Roberts said that surgery is not an option to fix Alexander’s nerve trouble, and that rest is the proper rehab process, even if it takes longer than originally anticipated. Barring significant improvement, it is hard to envision Alexander being able to contribute much, if at all, during the home stretch of the 2019 regular and postseason.
