Ahead of Friday night’s series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced they have placed right-hander Jimmy Nelson on the 10-day injured list with a left lumbar strain and recalled left-hander Alex Vesia from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The IL stint for Nelson is retroactive to Wednesday, so he will be eligible to return as soon as the second game after the All-Star break.
This news obviously comes at an inopportune time considering how snake-bitten the Dodgers’ pitching staff has been all season, especially in recent weeks. It’s unclear how serious the lower back injury is but the hope is that the All-Star break will give Nelson the extra time to recover that he needs and he’ll be ready to return shortly after the second half begins.
Nelson has been outstanding for the Dodgers out of the bullpen all year, posting a 2.00 ERA, 1.80 FIP and 0.93 WHIP with 41 strikeouts and 13 walks in 27 innings across 25 appearances.
Given the Dodgers just had a bullpen game on Wednesday and another one scheduled for Friday night, adding a fresh arm in Vesia, who last pitched on Tuesday, will be a big boost.
Vesia was acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins this offseason that included Dylan Floro. His first stint with the big league club did not go great as he appeared in 10 games and yielded a 5.91 ERA, 7.21 FIP and 1.41 WHIP with 16 strikeouts and 11 walks in 10.2 innings.
The southpaw has really found his form in OKC though, pitching to a 1.00 ERA and 0.67 WHIP with 19 strikeouts and three walks in nine innings. That includes an impressive span of striking out 15 straight batters he faced.
Dodgers receive positive update on Kershaw
One of the Dodgers’ other injured pitchers is lefty Clayton Kershaw, who recently hit the 10-day IL due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. Kershaw received an MRI on Friday though and it came back clean.
“Clayton had an MRI this morning and just like we expected, it was just inflammation and he’s gonna start playing catch again tomorrow and enjoy the break with his family and we’ll figure out when in the second half we’ll pencil him back into our rotation,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Given the Dodgers’ current glut of injuries, the All-Star break could not be coming at a better time.
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