The Los Angeles Dodgers finished their seven-game road trip on Thursday with a loss and as the walking wounded.
Carl Crawford was limited over a stretch of games with a tight hamstring, Trayce Thompson missed time with back spasms, and Yasiel Puig didn’t start the past three games due to a sore left hamstring.
In addition, the starting rotation took another hit with Alex Wood set to miss at least four weeks after an MRI revealed a posterior impingement in his left elbow. Puig’s first brush with hamstring soreness forced him to be scratched from Tuesday’s game.
He appeared as a pinch hitter on Wednesday and Thursday, going a combined 0-for-2 with one strikeout.
Given Puig’s hamstring trouble, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said consideration is being given to activating Scott Van Slyke from the disabled list prior to the series opener against the Atlanta Braves, according to ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
Earlier in the week, Roberts said Van Slyke’s return could come later in the upcoming homestand. Now it might come as early as Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium.
However, that wouldn’t necessarily correlate to a stint on the disabled list for Puig:
“You know what, with Yasiel and the hamstring issues that he’s had in the past, where he’s at and where we’re at in the season, it just doesn’t make sense to push him,” Roberts said
Roberts previously identified early June as a target date for Van Slyke’s return. He went 1-for-9 with a double and two RBIs in four games before lower back irritation forced him to the disabled list.
Van Slyke spent one game with High-A Rancho Cucamonga and seven with Triple-A Oklahoma City, completing his rehab assignment on Wednesday.
Overall, he hit .226/.294/.355 (7-for-31) with one double, one home run, five RBIs, three walks and six strikeouts. Van Slyke logged time as a designated hitter, at first base and in left and right field over the eight games.
