The Los Angeles Dodgers did not make a lot of acquisitions coming off a season in which they were a game away from winning the World Series. One of their few Major League additions was the signing of Tom Koehler to a one-year contract.
The plan called for the club to utilize Koehler out of the bullpen, potentially as a setup man. There was already a blueprint in place to convert a starter to a reliever, with Joe Blanton and Brandon Morrow previously succeeding in the role.
But the Dodgers have not yet been able to see if Koehler is their next success story because he sprained his shoulder in just his second Spring Training outing, and has been on the disabled list ever since.
Koehler is ready to resume throwing on Friday and will need to build up his arm strength because of the prolonged absence, but does already have a target return date in mind, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Because he has been unable to throw for eight weeks, Koehler said the throwing program will start from scratch as if he were coming off an offseason without throwing. How long it will take to build up to game readiness from that point is an unknown.
“I have a date in my mind. They have a date in theirs,” Koehler said of the Dodgers’ training staff. “They’re not the same. But they’re not that far apart and I’d be happy with either one.”
Despite planning to use him as a reliever, the Dodgers intended to build Koehler up as a starter during the spring so he was capable of serving as a spot starter if needed.
It takes longer to build up starters than relievers, so it will be interesting to see if they shift that plan so Koehler can return quicker, or if they believe current members of their bullpen can get by for the time being while Koehler is slowly built back up.
Either way, it appears Koehler is still a ways away from seeing a big league mound. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts previously remarked that a timetable was not in place.
