The Los Angeles Dodgers will be without star rookie Yoshinobu Yamamoto for quite some time after he suffered an injury during his start on Saturday, June 15.
Yamamoto was originally diagnosed with triceps tightness after exiting the game, throwing just two innings in his start. On Sunday, the Dodgers placed Yamamoto on the 15-day injured list, and he was set to meet with team doctors.
After additional testing, it was determined Yamamoto suffered a strained rotator cuff, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Yamamoto will not require surgery, but it will shut him down from throwing for at least a couple of weeks.
Yamamoto is expected to return this year as his injury is not considered season ending. “It’s going to take some time,” Roberts said.
The right-hander said he first started to feel the issue come up during his bullpen session during the week, but it went away after some extra rest. He also felt it come back up before the game, but believed he could pitch through it.
“I did have tightness, and I was very aware, but that it was not that serious at that point,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter. “Then, as I was pitching, it started growing.”
The Dodgers originally pushed Yamamoto’s scheduled start day back from Thursday to Saturday because of what was believed to be normal soreness, which is something all pitchers deal with throughout a season, and they continue to make their starts despite it.
Yamamoto said he communicated that there was tightness to his coaches, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pushed back on that.
“Yeah, no. I mean, obviously, I wasn’t in that conversation,” Roberts said. “I know there was no point in time where we felt that he couldn’t make the start going into today or today, because if that was the case, then he wouldn’t have made the start.”
Mookie Betts joins Yoshinobu Yamamoto with injury
To add on, the Dodgers also lost Mookie Betts to a fractured left hand during Sunday’s series finale against the Kansas City Royals.
“I don’t have a timeline,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be time. No surgery. It’s just going to be rest and let the bones heal.”
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