The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a rough go of it during Spring Training, with several players succumbing to injury. Brett Anderson needed back surgery to repair a bulging disk, Andre Ethier sustained a fractured right tibia, Mike Bolsinger has a mild oblique strain, and the list goes on.
Yasmani Grandal is among those who haven’t been able to remain 100 percent throughout camp. Coming off an arthroscopic surgery in October on the AC joint in his left shoulder, the 27-year-old catcher has been hampered by lingering forearm soreness.
The nagging issue forced Grandal to miss time earlier this month, as he went one week between appearing in Cactus League games. Upon returning March 16, he managed to appear in four games before again dealing with the soreness.
Grandal was removed after two innings on Monday, and sent for further tests on his forearms. He was expected to be in Thursday’s lineup, but that wasn’t the case.
Grandal isn’t concerned over the minor injury, but will be limited in the coming days, according to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:
#Dodgers Yasmani Grandal still downplaying forearm issue. But he won't be allowed to swing or throw for "few days"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 24, 2016
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said an MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage in Grandal’s right forearm:
#Dodgers Dave Roberts said Yasmani Grandal did have an MRI on his right forearm. Showed no structural damage.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 24, 2016
Grandal is batting .375/.412/.688 with one home run, two doubles and three RBIs in 17 plate appearances over eight games this spring. He hit .234/.353/.403 with 16 home runs, 47 RBIs, 92 strikeouts, 65 walks, a .335 wOBA and 115 wRC+ in 115 games last season.
At the All-Star break, Grandal led catchers with a .401 on-base percentage, .927 on-base plus slugging percentage, and was second with 14 home runs. He and the Dodgers avoided arbitration during the offseason by agreeing to a one-year, $2.8 million contract.
