After striking gold with Andrew Toles in 2016, the Los Angeles Dodgers penciled the former top prospect for a much larger role last season. He was in the process of solidifying the role as a starter in left field when injury struck.
Toles underwent ACL surgery last May and didn’t play again until this year. He reported to Spring Training believed to be healthy but held a step behind other position players out of precaution.
That Toles was working his way back from a serious injury factored in to the Dodgers’ optioning him to Triple-A Oklahoma City to begin the season. Now the 25-year-old finds himself on the Minor League disabled list due to a hamstring issue.
It forced Toles to be removed in the sixth inning of Friday’s game, and his initial optimism was that the injury would only sideline him for a week or less.
But with the roster move, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expects Toles to be out for two weeks, per Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
Injured on Friday evening while playing for triple-A Oklahoma City, Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles will require two weeks of rest for his injured hamstring, manager Dave Roberts said before Saturday’s game against Arizona.
The timing could not be worse for Toles. He’s swung a hot bat for Oklahoma City while Joc Pederson has struggled, leading to speculation — and an expectation — that the two outfielders would soon swap places within the organization.
Toles has hit safely in his first six games, including three consecutive multi-hit games, and leads OKC with 12 hits. He went 3-for-3 and slugged his first home run of the season before injury forced him out on Friday.
Overall this season, Toles is batting .462/.500/.731 with four doubles, one home run and seven RBI.
