Subscribe
Follow Us
When baseball fans witnessed the Los Angeles Dodgers’ wild spending spree this offseason many became irate assuming the team would easily repeat as World Champions based on their ultra-talented roster. Few fans predicted at the time that the Dodgers would become one of baseball’s most emphatically snakebit teams when it comes to injuries.
Clayton Kershaw just came off the injured list for Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels and the veteran pitcher received a rousing ovation for his first strikeout of the season.
But it seems yet another pitcher might be in line to take Kershaw’s place on the IL. New Dodgers reliever Kirby Yates recorded one out while giving up three runs on three hits and a walk. Still, as bad as his outing Saturday was, the injury news is potentially worse as Yates was forced to leave the game with right hamstring tightness, according to the Dodgers official account on X.
The Dodgers face another potential pitcher injury
LA has an incredible 15 players on the IL and 13 of them are pitchers. Now, there’s a possibility that Yates will join the group, making 14 injured pitchers for the Dodgers.
Kershaw had been on the 60-day IL as he recovered from offseason surgeries that delayed his 2025 debut until mid May. Unfortunately, his highly anticipated return to the mound did not go well as the future Hall of Famer surrendered five runs on five hits and three walks with one strikeout in four innings.
Yates, however, adding insult to injury, took the loss in Saturday’s game as the Angels beat their LA counterparts 11-9. The Dodgers signed Yates to a one-year, $13 million deal this offseason. After his most recent outing, his ERA has ballooned to an uncharacteristic 4.34 on the season.
While the Dodgers remain one of baseball’s best teams, the deluge of injuries will eventually take a toll if it continues. And it certainly seems to be continuing with Roki Sasaki landing on the IL with a shoulder ailment. .
Thus far, Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez are the only position players to land on the injured list. And they both hit the 10-day IL, meaning their returns are not too far off. Fortunately for Dodgers fans, the team’s lineup is more than talented enough to make up for two missing players. The question is, other than Ohtani, how many position players can pitch?
