The Los Angeles Dodgers are currently dealing with numerous injuries on their pitching staff, some that were expected and others that have cropped up during the early stages of the season.
Pitchers such as Tony Gonsolin, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan and Michael Kopech were all expected to open the season on the injured list. Meanwhile, the Dodgers knew Shohei Ohtani wouldn’t yet be ready to pitch as well.
But for Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Treinen, their injuries have forced the Dodgers to change plans. That has even included discussions of potentially moving Ben Casparius to the rotation, but that comes at the cost of making their bullpen weaker.
Thankfully for L.A., Gonsolin is returning Wednesday, and they’ll look for him to provide some stability to the back of their rotation.
As for Glasnow, Snell and Treinen, none of the three is expected to return in a timely fashion. Treinen has not thrown since April 18, and there’s no plans for that to change anytime soon.
Glasnow has been shut down from throwing for a few days before he begins some light workouts, and he’ll be re-evaluated in about two weeks.
Kershaw has also been in the process of rehabbing, but his scheduled start Tuesday was pushed back by. The hope is he will make his next start on Wednesday and it’s not expected to delay his timeline.
May 17 is the earliest day Kershaw is eligible to be activated off the 60-day IL. He was originally projected to return around June or July, but those plans may be pushed up due to the need for arms.
Dodgers injury updates
Blake Snell
Like Treinen, Snell is also expected to miss a significant amount of time. Snell initially began making some progress in his rehab process, but was shut down due to continued discomfort in his left shoulder.
He will not pick up a baseball until the pain is fully gone, and it’s unclear when that will be. Fortunately, Snell underwent an additional MRI that showed encouraging results and he received an injection in his left shoulder.
But even with the positive news, there’s still no set timeline for when his rehab resumes.
“I think we’ll know more once he starts throwing,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said. “It’s hard to say. I think he’s still kind of in that rest and recovery kind of mode right now. On the inside, he’s working out and doing all those things, but he’s not doing a lot with his shoulder.
“So we’ll just see where he’s at and once he starts throwing. I can’t speak to what that looks like until we actually get to throwing a baseball again and know how he’s building up. We thought we were in a good spot moving forward, clearly that isn’t the case.
“So we’ll read and react on that one. But yeah, I don’t really have a ton to offer there. Just kind of wait and see.”
Shohei Ohtani
The hope was originally that Ohtani would return around May, but those plans were adjusted after the Dodgers traveled to Japan for the Tokyo Series.
They have instead taken the cautious route with Ohtani, and that doesn’t figure to change even with their need for pitching.
Ohtani has been throwing bullpen sessions, but has yet to work in his slider or curveball. After he begins to mix those in, the next step will be facing hitters, but his timeline also remains up in the air.
“Unfortunately given the game time [Wednesday], it’ll probably just be a catch day at best, and then probably looking to do one of his heavy bullpens again on Saturday,” Prior said.
“I don’t have a timeline right now on when he’s going to be facing hitters, but I still think right now, it’s still going to be this lighter bullpen Wednesday, but the heavy lifting is going to be on Saturday.
“And when we all feel comfortable that he’s ready to face hitters, then we’ll start seeing that process.”
Ohtani is not expected to return to the Dodgers rotation for at least a couple of months.
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