Depth has been perhaps the biggest strength of the Los Angeles Dodgers in recent years, and that has again been the case this season with the team holding the best record in baseball despite key players missing time due to injury.
One of those depth pieces has been infielder Matt Beaty, who was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City for the first time when A.J. Pollock went down at the end of April. Beaty has spent a majority of his time at the Major League level since.
Beaty recently suffered an injury of his own though when he was removed from last Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies and was diagnosed with a left hip flexor strain.
The injury wasn’t believed to be all that serious and Beaty remained on the active roster for the next couple of games. He eventually wound up being placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday though, retroactive to June 3.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts maintained Beaty’s trouble is not serious and the club simply elected to make a move to preserve depth on the active roster, via SportsNet LA:
“Matt is still dealing with that hip, so we wanted to retro him, get him back, get Garlick here and just get somebody that is completely healthy. I don’t expect it to be a long stint on the IL. We’ll get him back soon. … Just our roster, four-man bench, giving us the versatility, there’s an off day tomorrow so you don’t lose a game played for Matt.”
Beaty is batting .286/.286/.310 with one double and seven home runs in 17 games with the Dodgers this season. He has been a victim of some bad luck, often hitting balls hard but right at defenders.
The Dodgers recalled outfielder Kyle Garlick to replace Beaty on their 25-man roster, giving them an extra right-handed bat off the bench. Both Beaty and Garlick have gone back and forth between Oklahoma City and the big leagues a few times this season and that will likely continue all season long whenever they are needed for depth purposes.
