On the same day the Los Angeles Dodgers put Will Smith on the 10-day injured list due to neck inflammation, they saw Justin Wrobleski and Shohei Ohtani each leave Wednesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates early due to a respective injury.
Health has become a mounting issue for the Dodgers, who remain without the likes of Edwin Díaz, Tommy Edman, Tyler Glasnow, Kiké Hernández, Teoscar Hernández and Blake Snell. Edman is in the midst of a rehab assignment and could be on the verge of returning within the next week or so.
Dodgers injuries
Shohei Ohtani
Santiago Espinal pinch-hit for Ohtani in the seventh inning, which was the first sign of trouble for the two-way star. The Dodgers announced shortly after Ohtani was taken out of the game due to left knee inflammation. That’s the same knee Ohtani had surgery on in 2019 to repair a bipartite patella, a congenital condition.
Bipartite patella is a result of the two bones of the kneecap not fusing together at birth. It’s an issue no more than 2% of the population suffer from. Ohtani had been asymptomatic throughout his professional career before that changed during the 2019 season.
It’s not yet known if the Dodgers will look to place him on the 10-day injured list, though that would certainly appear to be an expected outcome. Ohtani has additionally been dealing with a blister on the middle finger of his right hand.
Ohtani went 2-for-2 with a home run and two walks prior to being removed. The left knee notably is part of Ohtani’s landing leg, and he threw 102 pitches over 6.2 innings on Tuesday.
Justin Wrobleski
Wrobleski exited the game with two outs in the fifth inning and immediately after hunching over in discomfort upon covering first base on an infield single that hit off his leg. That came on the heels of Wrobleski surrendering two home runs in the inning. Will Klein took over and allowed the inherited runner to score.
The Dodgers announced Wrobleski was removed from the series finale at PNC Park due to a right hamstring contusion. Should he need to go on the IL, that would seemingly create an opportunity for River Ryan to make his season debut.
Wrobleski was charged for four runs over 5.2 innings. He finished with just two strikeouts and allowed six hits, including the pair of homers.
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