Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles was removed during the seventh inning of Tuesday’s walk-off win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and will undergo an MRI exam on Wednesday. Toles suffered a right knee injury on Andrew McCutchen’s leadoff ground-rule double that broke up Julio Urias’ no-hitter.
Toles gave chase to the fly ball that sliced to his right and came up lame one step before momentum carried him into the short fence in left field. The speedy outfielder immediately grabbed at his knee and remained down for a few minutes.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and a trainer checked on Toles, who walked off the field under his own power. While that was an encouraging sign, there’s concern Toles may have suffered a season-ending injury.
“X-rays look OK, potential though might be a DL,” Roberts said following the game. “As I’ve heard — I didn’t see a replay — he was going up trying to make a play on the ball, and thought he didn’t have room.
“He came down on his right knee, and it kind of gave way. The x-rays showed OK, meniscus is fine, so the only other possibility could be an ACL because of the way he landed. We’ll know more after the MRI.”
If the Dodgers are to lose Toles for any extended period of time, they’ll suddenly be without an option to bat lead off and the left-handed hitter of a platoon in left field. Cody Bellinger seemingly could fill the void in left, but he’s manning first base until Adrian Gonzalez returns.
When that will be is unclear, as the Dodgers are basing it on Gonzalez’s progress without putting a timeline in place.
Brett Eibner, Trayce Thompson and Scott Van Slyke are outfielders currently on the 40-man roster. Each has already spent part of the season with the Dodgers. Van Slyke was demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City when Franklin Gutierrez was reinstated from the disabled list.
Another potential option for the Dodgers is Andre Ethier, though his return, in a best-case scenario, isn’t expected until some time in June. Ethier was transferred to the 60-day DL on Tuesday in a corresponding move to Los Angeles claiming Justin Marks off waivers.
Toles is batting .271/.314/.458 with three doubles, five home runs and 15 RBI in 31 games. He was 1-for-3 Tuesday before the early exit.
