The Los Angeles Dodgers have dealt with a plethora of injuries in their bullpen this season, but they may soon be getting back two key relievers in Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol.
Treinen has been out with right shoulder discomfort since April 22, while Graterol has been shut down since July 14 due to right shoulder inflammation. Both faced Joey Gallo and Hanser Alberto in a simulated game at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.
“Both guys were good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The plan is for those guys to go out to OKC on Friday and make a couple outings — two or three — and kind of see where we go from there.”
For Treinen, the plan is still to activate him on Sept. 1 or 2, according to Roberts, which gives the 34-year-old a few weeks to rehab in Minor League games and then a month of Major League games to prepare for the postseason.
Graterol is expected to return to the club sooner than Treinen despite both beginning their rehab assignments on Friday. The Dodgers want to be “a little bit more cautious” with Treinen because of the severity of the injury.
Although both pitchers need to go on their respective rehab assignments, Roberts indicated both looked great and had their stuff working in the sim game.
“Blake’s last throw with that up-down was 98 (mph), he went in on Gallo,” Roberts said. “That’s as good as it’s going to be. That’s not even in a Major League game.
“And I know Brusdar was sitting at 100 (mph). If he can command the baseball like he has, it’s right where it needs to be.”
When the pair of pitchers are on their rehab assignments, the Dodgers will be watching for how their pitches are working and how each of them feel, not necessarily about the results they are able to post. Once both are in a place the team is comfortable with, they will be ready to return.
“We’re going to be looking at results as far as characteristics probably, not as far as if a guy gets a hit,” Roberts explained. “They both throw strikes, so it’s a matter of in Brusdar’s case, how is the slider looking? How is he recovering from the velocity of the sinker, the cutter?
“With Blake, how is his slider playing? How is he feeling? All that stuff.”
Roberts hasn’t set role for Treinen or Graterol
Without Treinen and Graterol, the Dodgers have relied upon Yency Almonte and Evan Phillips to fill in as their top setup men. Almonte is now on the 15-day IL as well, but once each of them is healthy, it is expected they will all continue to pitch in high-leverage roles, but that has not been officially set.
“I don’t know,” Roberts said about roles for Graterol and Treinen. “I think probably getting him in some softer landings initially will be helpful for everyone.
“And then obviously, the goal is to have both those guys take on any role we need in leverage, and to then now be able to kind of use Phillips, Graterol and Blake kind of interchangeably, with respect to usage, as far as the right-handed relievers.”
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