Staring at the prospect of being swept by the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Dodgers went into the series finale a bit shorthanded. Matt Kemp (ankle contusion) and Yasiel Puig (oblique) each were out of the lineup against Gerrit Cole because of their respective injuries.
Kemp’s was a result of fouling a pitch off his foot in Saturday’s 14-0 loss, while Puig was also in that game, but on his left oblique and not the right side that required a recent stint on the 10-day disabled list. Puig missed three weeks with the injury.
Although the Dodgers projected as much, that he returned in such short order was mildly surprising. Cameras have caught Puig grimacing after swings on multiple occasions since he was activated July 28.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated the club hopes to avoid it but is mindful of the possibility of Puig needing to go back on the DL, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“Seeing that the time we took prior and for him to come back and still not have it behind us is a little cause for concern,” Roberts said of Puig. “Hopefully it’s dissipated by Tuesday, but probably unlikely. There’s some thoughts we want to make sure he’s right to finish up the season. I hope not [DL], but to run him out there and potentially put him in more harm’s way, we don’t want to do that. We’ll re-evaluate.”
Puig was previously sidelined by a bruised hip in May. He completed a three-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to returning from the oblique strain.
Puig is 7-for-23 with one double, three home runs, eight RBI and seven strikeouts over seven games since coming off the disabled list. He was not used off the bench in the series finale against the Astros.
If Puig is to land on the DL, it presumably will create another opportunity for Alex Verdugo, who impressed in his last stint with the Dodgers.
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