The Los Angeles Dodgers have dealt with a plethora of injuries in recent weeks. Among those currently sidelined is All-Star third baseman Justin Turner, who has yet to make his 2018 debut after fracturing his left wrist during Spring Training.
While no timetable was revealed on when Turner may return to action, one expectation was that he would miss around 10 weeks. That was the standard for players who battled through similar injuries.
Turner recently began hitting off a tee, but it’s still unclear on how close he is to beginning a rehab assignment. He did cross a big milestone in his recovery on Sunday, taking batting practice on the field for the first time.
That led to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to say he believes Turner is close to returning, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Roberts estimated that a Justin Turner return is two weeks away, which would put the third baseman’s recovery from a broken left wrist at two months.
With Turner inactive for the first month of the season, Logan Forsythe received the initial opportunity to fill the void at third base. However, he struggled out of the gate on both sides of the ball before suffering an injury of his own.
Though, Forsythe is farther along in his recovery process and could potentially be on the verge of beginning a rehab assignment himself. Other players to get a look at the hot corner include Kyle Farmer, Kiké Hernandez and Max Muncy.
The Dodgers recently lost Corey Seager for the remainder of the season, so Turner’s eventual return to the lineup figures to provide a significant boost to an offense that has lacked in the power department thus far.
Turner will need some sort of rehab assignment before returning to the big league club, which could be just around the corner if Roberts thinks he’ll be back in a couple months.
