The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ outfield depth is going to be tested, as Andre Ethier will miss the next few months to recover from a fractured tibia he suffered on March 18.
Continue for updates.
Ethier to Miss 10-14 Weeks
Tuesday, March 22
Per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, Ethier does not need surgery but will be out for 10-14 weeks.
Ethier was initially injured Friday during a spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks after fouling a ball off his shin.
Per ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla, Ethier had an X-ray “immediately” after suffering the injury and it came back negative, leading to him being diagnosed with a contusion. When the pain had yet to subside by Monday, Ethier underwent a bone scan, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times that Ethier’s leg was “not responding” the way they had hoped: “After a contusion, even if it gets you pretty good, you should still feel less discomfort. And he’s just not there yet. Sometimes X-rays don’t tell the whole story. That’s why we wanted to get the scan.”
The Dodgers do have plenty of outfielders to choose from now that Ethier is set to miss the first two months of the regular season. Yasiel Puig, Carl Crawford and Joc Pederson seem likely to be the starting trio on opening day against San Diego.
However, per Mike Petriello of MLB.com, the Dodgers’ current injury list looks closer to what the Opening Day roster was supposed to be:
This was a different offseason for the Dodgers, who didn’t spend crazy money in free agency and opted to build around their returning talent and a strong farm system. It’s not a bad gamble, but it requires a lot of things to go right.
McCullough noted the Dodgers will likely keep Trayce Thompson as their fifth outfielder in Ethier’s absence. The 33-year-old Ethier was one of Los Angeles’ best hitters last year, posting an .852 OPS with 14 home runs in 142 games.
The Dodgers don’t boast a deep lineup, so losing Ethier puts more pressure on players like Puig and Pederson to play up to their potential in order to win their fourth straight National League West title in 2016.
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