The Los Angeles Dodgers lost a key member of their bullpen when Yency Almonte was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right knee sprain on August 12.
Almonte sustained the injury the night prior when his right knee buckled upon throwing a pitch against the Colorado Rockies. He initially remained in the game after being checked on by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and a trainer, but was visibly limited and ultimately removed.
The team hoped his stay on the IL would be a short one, however, Almonte continued to deal with pain in his right knee.
As the regular season winds down, Almonte is running out of time to return, but he is feeling better and still hopes to be ready for the playoffs, via SportsNet LA:
“This last week I’ve been starting to feel better than weeks prior. It’s just been a nagging issue with the knee ligament and not being able to be myself, be strong and push off my knee off the mound the way I want to be. I know it’s going to take time, and I’m not trying to rush it either, because I don’t want to have a setback. I’m just trying to make sure I’ll be able to come back and be strong for the playoffs.”
Almonte threw his first bullpen session on Tuesday and came out of it feeling well. He is now set to throw another bullpen soon:
“The bullpen felt great. I threw 15 pitches; my first 10 or 11 pitches were really good. Everything was coming out the way I want it to come out. And then towards the end of the bullpen was where I started to feel a little more fatigue. Not really pain, but just soreness and tired, which I kind of expected since I hadn’t thrown off the mound in three weeks. The next process is probably going to be another bullpen in the next couple days, depending on when they tell me.”
Almonte has had an up-and-down season as he is 3-2 with a 5.06 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 1.40 WHIP and 9.2 strikeouts per nine in 49 appearances, but he has still been a late-inning option for Roberts.
Almonte posted a career-best 1.02 ERA over 33 games last year.
Yency Almonte among injured Dodgers relievers
In addition to Almonte, the Dodgers also have Michael Grove, J.P. Feyereisen, Alex Reyes, Daniel Hudson, Blake Treinen, Tyler Cyr, Wander Suero and Gus Varland on the IL. Grove was expected to return soon, but Roberts recently said that has been delayed.
Varland was transferred to the 60-day IL, which ended his season. Feyereisen, Reyes, Hudson, Treinen and Cyr are either ruled out or unlikely to return in 2023.
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