The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Alex Wood is scheduled to undergo an arthroscopic debridement of his left elbow Wednesday afternoon in New York. Wood’s recovery is estimated to be eight weeks.
He was placed on the 15-day disabled list with left posterior elbow soreness on May 31, though an MRI the following day revealed a posterior impingement in his left elbow that required roughly four weeks of rest.
Wood was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 29 and made recent strides in his recovery. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts projected the southpaw, along with Brett Anderson, was on track for a return at some point in August.
Wednesday’s procedure now pushes that back to the middle of September. Wood had advanced well enough in his recovery to throw a simulated game over the weekend.
Needless to say, just as the case with Clayton Kershaw, the end result wasn’t what was expected. Kershaw’s recovery from a mild disc herniation was halted until the pain subsides, and Hyun-Jin Ryu was placed back on the disabled list with left elbow tendinitis.
The growing list of injuries reportedly has the Dodgers in search of a significant trade to add reinforcement(s) to their starting rotation. Wood this season is 1-4 with a 3.99 ERA, 3.27 FIP and 1.31 WHIP over 10 starts.