Corey Knebel was acquired during the offseason to help strengthen the back of the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen, but on April 14 he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right lat strain.
After a long recovery, Knebel was once again able to pitch for the Dodgers, where he faced four batters and struck out two while walking one and allowing one hit in the series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“It felt good,” Knebel said of his return. “It felt really good to be back out there. Everything went well.”
After his injury, Knebel was unable to pick up a baseball for five weeks before he resumed his throwing program to build up his arm and work toward a rehab assignment.
But in his first outing back, Knebel showed his arm is ready as he touched 97 mph on his fastball.
“The velo has been one thing that’s come back pretty fast from this injury,” Knebel said. “It was great to be back out there. It was crunch time with the top of the lineup coming up. It was good to get in and out with a clean outing.”
Although he missed most of the season due to injury, Knebel said he will not be limited moving forward because he has fully recovered.
“I’m full-go and fully healthy now. I’m not going to think about the lat,” Knebel said. “It’s ready to go, so we’re just going to keep throwing like we have been.”
“I was on the IL for 80 or 90 days, something like that. We took our time to make sure it was full-go, fully healthy. I think everything now is just move forward and not think about it.”
Knebel’s role
Knebel should slot back into a high leverage role and share time with Blake Treinen as the bridge to Kenley Jansen. He could also pick up some saves to help manager Dave Roberts avoid using Jansen on back-to-back nights.
“I have a feeling it’s just going to be be ready whenever. They haven’t really discussed anything,” Knebel said. “I’m going to go in and do my job no matter what inning it is. We’ve got a lot of horses in that bullpen, so it’s going to be pretty fun.”
Roberts could also call on Knebel quite often down the stretch as he has only thrown 6.2 innings this season compared to Jansen’s 43.1 and Treinen’s 48.
“Honestly, I’m kind of like the freshest guy in the bullpen right now,” Knebel said. “To be able to give some of these guys breaks — I Blake, Kenley, all these guys have been throwing a lot — so to come in and give a little rest, and for myself, it’s crunch time.”
“I’ve got to make sure I’m ready to go into October. I think it will be beneficial for all of us.”
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