There’s been no telling when the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bad fortune with injuries will subside as detrimental news involving starting pitchers has continued to plaque the club. Since the All-Star break the Dodgers have had a trio of pitchers take a step back.
Clayton Kershaw was thought to be closing in on a return but felt back pain after throwing a simulated game and his recovery has since been shut down. Then Hyu-Jin Ryu was placed back on the disabled list with tendinitis in his left elbow.
Ryu managed to make just one start after returning from the April 2015 surgery that repaired a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. One day after losing Ryu to the DL, the Dodgers announced Alex Wood would miss approximately eight weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic debridement on his left elbow.
Considering his return has now been pushed back, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it’s plausible Wood will be used as a reliever once he recovers, per Time Warner Cable SportsNet LA:
“Hopefully he can come back and help us in some capacity. Obviously, you look at the calendar, to come back as a starter is unlikely. But he’s going to do everything he can to get back. With our aspirations as a ballclub, if he’s healthy, depending on where he can potentially be built up to, there might be a possibility where he can help us out of the ‘pen. Come September when you’re competing, it’s an all-hands-on-deck-type situation. We’re definitely not writing Alex Wood off.”
Wood was initially placed on the 15-day DL in late May in what was later diagnosed as a posterior impingement in his left elbow which required around four weeks of rest. Prior to the latest operation, Wood was previously pegged to return by mid-August.
In parts of two seasons with the Dodgers, the 25-year-old is 6-10 with a 4.19 ERA, 3.73 FIP and 1.23 WHIP in 22 starts.
