With just over three weeks until Opening Day of the 2020 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are dealing with a rash of minor injuries to several players. Omar Estevez and Dustin May remain shut down, Jimmy Nelson just resumed a throwing program, but Chris Taylor is saddled by a sore shoulder.
Cody Bellinger proclaimed to be fully recovered from a knot in his back, though he nonetheless missed a second consecutive game Wednesday night. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated Bellinger would return to the lineup Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers avoided a serious injury against the San Francisco Giants when Justin Turner was hit by a pitch in the first inning. He immediately hunched over in pain before remaining in the game.
Turner also played the field in the second inning and hit a two-run in the third. He eventually was removed from the game and explained the ball hit his knuckle, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group
#Dodgers Justin Turner said pitch hit him in the outside of his left hand on the knuckle, not the wrist — where he has a protective pad. "It's not great. But it's not bad," he said. "I've had worse."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 5, 2020
Turner underwent an X-ray that came back negative, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Turner said his x-ray was negative.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 5, 2020
The scene evoked nightmares of Turner taking a pitch off his left wrist and sustaining a fracture late into March during Spring Training in 2018. Turner didn’t make his regular season debut until the middle of May that year.
He dealt with residual soreness and took to wearing a protective EvoShield pad on the left wrist. That proved to be effective in September 2018, when Turner was struck on his left wrist and sent for X-rays that also were negative. In addition to playing all 13 innings the night he was hit, Turner was back in the lineup the next game.
Then early last season he credited the EvoShield for preventing another wrist fracture when he was hit and said he would likely wear it for the remainder of his career.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in our live shows, and more!
