Because of a virus that has infected the majority of the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse, a plethora of players have been sidelined from baseball-related activities this week.
Among those affected was Hyun-Jin Ryu, who couldn’t make his scheduled start on Wednesday after coming down with an illness. Cody Bellinger and outfielder Yasiel Puig were other notable players that were sent home because of the virus.
The Dodgers installed several biodefense systems throughout the clubhouse in an effort to prevent additional players from getting sick. The past couple of days have seen a slow trickle of those who fell ill returning.
After some rest over the weekend, Ryu is feeling better and will make his spring debut on Monday in a simulated game against Minor Leaguers, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Ryu will start in B game Monday. Maeda starts Sunday. Font might get another start.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 3, 2018
Meanwhile, Maeda’s start will come against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium. Maeda threw two hitless innings his first time out this spring. Although Font may be given another start, his outlook is more likely for a role in the bullpen. Particularly with Tom Koehler going down with a mild anterior shoulder capsule strain.
Like Maeda, Ryu factors into the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation. In 126.2 innings last season, Ryu compiled a 3.77 ERA, 4.74 FIP and 1.37 WHIP with 116 strikeouts to 46 walks. It was the first time since 2014 he logged more than 100 innings in a season.
