With the playoffs inching closer every day, the Los Angeles Dodgers are running out of time to get everyone healthy. However, Gavin Lux and Yency Almonte are each making progress toward a return.
Lux has been out since Sept. 1 due to neck discomfort, but he has since received a cortisone injection and began to take at-bats against a pitching machine.
Almonte has been on the 15-day injured list since Aug. 7 due to right elbow tightness. He wasn’t expected to be out long-term, but the recovery has taken longer than expected. Almonte has been throwing bullpen sessions, which Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said went well.
Now, both players are expected to participate in a simulated game at Chase Field, with Lux taking live at-bats off Almonte and possibly another pitcher, Roberts said, via SportsNet LA:
“Gavin is doing well. We just watched him take some velocity on the mound from a machine. I thought he was good. I think there was a little bit lost in translation. He’s going to do a simulated game (Wednesday) here at Chase, and not at CBR. He’ll face Yency and maybe another arm.”
The 24-year-old second baseman first dealt with neck pain in late August that caused him to miss four games over a five-day span. Despite the issue returning, the Dodgers decided against putting him on the IL because of the expanded 28-man rosters and the hope he would be able to play sooner than later.
Lux is batting .293/.368/.428 with six home runs, 42 RBI, a .350 wOBA and 127 wRC+ over a career-high 115 games.
Almonte has one save and pitched to a 1.15 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 29 games for the Dodgers this season. He was among a handful of players to sign a Minor League contract with the team during Spring Training and developed into a high-leverage reliever for the club.
Dodgers activate Tommy Kahnle
The Dodgers reinstated Tommy Kahnle from the 60-day IL after he missed the path four months due to a bone bruise in his right elbow and designated Heath Hembree for assignment to make room on the active and 40-man roster.
Kahnle signed with the Dodgers in the 2021 offseason but missed the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2020. He joined the bullpen in May but only appeared in four games prior to being put back on the IL.
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