The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 12) due to left hamstring tightness and recalled Mitch White from Triple-A Oklahoma City minutes before first pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.
Bellinger had been out of the Dodgers’ lineup since being removed last Friday against the Texas Rangers. There was initial optimism and hope that Bellinger would return for the series finale against the Rangers, which was then pushed back to Wednesday.
However, as Bellinger continued to have trouble testing his hamstring with running drills, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts all but ruled out a return for the final game against the Phillies.
“He’s hit, he’s done some running, it’s day-to-day,” Roberts said before the second game against Philadelphia.
“We’re kind of trying to wait as long as we can before we have to make a decision on the IL; I don’t think there’s much of a cost right now. We’ll get to [Wednesday] and see where we’re at.”
Bellinger now finds himself on the IL for a second time this season. The first stint came after suffering a hairline fracture in his fibula a handful of days into the schedule. That caused Bellinger to miss 46 games between April 5 and May 29.
Between an offseason shoulder injury, the hairline fracture and now current hamstring injury, Bellinger has missed considerable time in 2021 and as a result has had difficulty heating up. Though, Roberts recently said he felt a breakout stretch was on the horizon.
White provides relief for Dodgers bullpen
In addition to Roberts suggesting Bellinger would not yet be put on the injured list, he also ruled out adding a pitcher to the active roster despite heavy bullpen usage the past two games.
With Kenley Jansen and David Price unavailable, White gives the Dodgers another option out of the bullpen. White returns three days after being optioned as the corresponding move to the Dodgers calling up Andy Burns.
White has a 3.29 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 11 games.
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