The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a key loss in their bullpen when relief pitcher Daniel Hudson tore the ACL in his left knee on Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
The injury put an end to Hudson’s season and created a significant void in the Dodgers’ bullpen. But at 35 years old and on a one-year contract, the ACL injury also has the potential to force him into retirement.
However, Hudson doesn’t want the injury to be the last memory of his career, so he hopes he’ll be able to return next season, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It’s extremely frustrating. I’ve been through a lot,” Hudson said. “Obviously this is the first major injury that wasn’t my arm. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But at this stage in my career, it’s kind of concerning and it’s hard not to have bad thoughts. Hopefully I can get through this and maybe give it another shot.”
“As of right now, I don’t want that to be the last image of me on a baseball field,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens, get through surgery and go from there.”
Prior to the injury, the right-hander threw 24.1 innings with a 2.22 ERA and 2.05 FIP while striking out 30.9% of hitters and walking 5.2%. It’s a massive loss to a bullpen that has already dealt with multiple other injuries to important relievers in Blake Treinen, Tommy Kahnle, Caleb Ferguson and Victor González.
With Hudson now out, the Dodgers will need Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips and Yency Almonte to take on bigger roles. Roberts has previously mentioned Phillips specifically as someone who has already developed into a high-leverage option.
“I think that Evan has done a really, really nice job,” Roberts said in May. “I think our pitching departments have done a great job developing him.
“He’s got a mid-90s fastball, he’s got a slider that really plays to right, and he’s got a cutter now that he’s developed. Connor McGuiness really ran with that, so he’s a high-leverage guy, absolutely.
“And guys always seem to step up. Alex Vesia did it for us last year. And so it just gives guys opportunities and guys will be coming back as the summer goes on.”
Andrew Heaney to miss multiple starts
The Dodgers had high hopes for Andrew Heaney and made him their first signing this past offseason despite coming off a shaky year with the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees.
When Heaney has been on the mound, he’s proven their faith to be correct as he has given up just one earned run across 15.1 innings. However, Heaney was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday, which marked his second time going on the IL this season and begins this latest stint after making just one start upon returning.
The southpaw previously dealt with left shoulder discomfort and those troubles came back, which forced him to be shut down again when he felt soreness while throwing a bullpen. Roberts said the specifics of Heaney’s injury is a shoulder strain which will cause him to miss multiple starts.
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