Despite their attempt to ease several of their key players through Spring Training, the Los Angeles Dodgers did not begin the regular season at full strength. Tom Koehler and Justin Turner were on the disabled list, and Kenley Jansen didn’t appear to have fully recovered from hamstring trouble.
Injuries, coupled with unexpected struggles and regression from those who were healthy, led to the Dodgers getting off to one of the worst starts in franchise history. There have been more bumps along way, such as losing Logan Forsythe, Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu to the DL.
Turner has since returned, however, and that seemingly came with a spark. Kershaw is expected to be activated Thursday, but the Dodgers are now dealing with another injury in their starting rotation as Kenta Maeda was removed Tuesday due to a right hip strain.
He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI, will likely be placed on the disabled list and miss at least one start.
While there may be some frustration with another injury cropping up, manager Dave Roberts is confident the Dodgers will continue to forge ahead, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“It’s unexpected. Murphy’s Law type of thing,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who said he anticipates Maeda being placed on the disabled list. “But our guys are resilient. We keep finding ways to win and battle.”
Los Angeles is 9-5 since Turner was activated, and even with Tuesday’s loss have won nine of their last 12. After previously being buried in the division standings, they enter play Wednesday a mere 4.5 games back of the Colorado Rockies for first place in the National League West.
Beginning Friday, they meet for a three-game series at Coors Field. The Dodgers have won two of the three head-to-head meetings thus far.
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