Ahead of Wednesday’s matchup with the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers placed outfielder Franklin Gutierrez on the 10-day disabled list with a left-hamstring strain. His DL stint is retroactive to Tuesday, April 11. Trayce Thompson was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill the vacant spot on the 25-man active roster.
Gutierrez suffered the injury on a stolen base attempt during the second inning of Monday’s loss to the Chicago Cubs. The 34-year-old walked in his lone plate appearance of the game. He appeared in six of the Dodgers eight games before landing on the disabled list.
While Gutierrez will at least be out until April 21, he’s doesn’t expect to be sidelined for an extended period of time, per David Vassegh of L.A. Sports Radio AM 570:
Gutierrez told me his hammy injury is not as bad as originally thought. Felt a grab and doesn't expect to be on DL extended period of time.
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) April 12, 2017
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes the veteran outfielder wouldn’t miss more than weeks, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Roberts said Franklin Gutierrez hamstring injury is "best case one week … worst case three weeks". Trayce Thompson starts in LF Thursday
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) April 12, 2017
In his six games, Gutierrez is 3-for-13 (.231 batting average) with two doubles and one walk. Twelve of his 13 at-bats and all three of hits have come against left-handed pitching.
The Dodgers of course signed Gutierrez to a one-year contract in the offseason because of his ability to hit left-handed pitching, which was something the team struggled mightily with in 2016.
Thompson wasn’t in the lineup Wednesday, and as noted above, is expected to make his first start with the Dodgers in the three-game series finale against the Cubs. Thompson batted .225/.302/.436 with 13 home runs and 32 RBIs over 80 games with Los Angeles last season.
He was off to a slow 2017 with Oklahoma City, going 0-for-13 with two walks in five games. Like Gutierrez, Thompson has demonstrated an ability to handle left-handed pitching.
