Dodgers Double Whammy as Yamamoto and Betts Land on Injured Record

The Dodgers took two out of three from the Royals this weekend in Los Angeles, however they suffered a pair of losses that may’t assist however show pricey, as accidents felled two of the sport’s greatest gamers. On Saturday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto left his begin after simply two innings as a result of what was initially described as triceps tightness however was later recognized as a rotator cuff pressure. On Sunday, Mookie Betts suffered a fracture after being hit on the left hand by a 98-mph fastball. Neither damage is season-ending, however each gamers determine to be out for a number of weeks.

Yamamoto’s issues are traceable to his June 7 start towards the Yankees. He was sensible in that outing, shutting out the Bronx Bombers on two hits and two walks whereas putting out seven in a recreation that remained scoreless till the eleventh inning, when Teoscar Hernández’s two-run double proved decisive. Maybe owing to the adrenaline that comes with pitching in a playoff-like environment, the 25-year-old righty’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.0 mph that evening, 1.5 mph above his common in his first season since coming over from Japan after signing a 12-year, $325 million deal final December. He threw his 17 fastest four-seamers and eight fastest sliders whereas throwing a season-high 106 pitches; it was his fourth straight outing of not less than 100 pitches after topping out at 99 in his first 9 turns.

As a result of Yamamoto skilled soreness in his triceps within the wake of that begin, the Dodgers pushed again his subsequent outing from Thursday to Saturday; as an alternative, he threw a bullpen on Thursday however didn’t expertise any extra soreness. On Saturday, he did expertise some discomfort whereas warming up, however “it was not that critical at that time,” as he later stated by means of a translator according to the Los Angeles Instances‘ Mike DiGiovanna. He advised pitching coach Mark Prior after his warmup, “I don’t really feel 100%. I don’t really feel frisky, however I really feel nice.”

“Then, as I used to be pitching [in the game], it began [to get worse],” Yamamoto defined.

Yamamoto threw two scoreless innings whereas permitting one hit and one stroll over the course of 28 pitches. His four-seamer averaged simply 94.1 mph, 1.4 mph under his seasonal common and a pair of.9 mph under his earlier begin. After the second inning, SportsNet LA confirmed Prior, Roberts, and crew trainers suddenly stirring within the Dodgers’ dugout en path to a gathering within the tunnel. Righty Michael Grove shortly warmed up and took over within the third inning; the Dodgers announced Yamamoto left the sport as a result of triceps tightness. He underwent an MRI on Sunday and was recognized with a rotator cuff pressure. There’s no timetable but for his return. “It’s gonna take a while, however it’s not season-ending,” stated Roberts. “It’s a kind of issues the place he’s not going to throw for a few weeks, after which we’ll type of see the place we go from there.”

Regardless of getting rocked for 5 runs in his one-inning debut towards the Padres in South Korea on March 21, Yamamoto has pitched nicely in his rookie season. He entered Sunday ranked fourth within the NL in FIP (2.61) and strikeout-walk differential (22.3%), sixth in ERA (2.92) and strikeout charge (27.9%), and seventh in WAR (2.1). That’s not a efficiency that will probably be simple to switch, however the Dodgers do have assistance on the best way. Bobby Miller, who final pitched for the crew on April 10 earlier than being sidelined by shoulder irritation, is scheduled to start out towards the Rockies on Wednesday. After a rookie season wherein he posted a 3.76 ERA and three.51 FIP in 124.1 innings, the 25-year-old righty appeared prepared for even larger issues when he struck out 11 in six shutout innings towards the Cardinals on March 29, however he didn’t make it out of the second inning in his subsequent begin towards the Cubs on April 5. 5 days later, he lasted simply 4 innings towards the Twins earlier than being sidelined.

In the meantime, after throwing a three-inning simulated recreation at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, Clayton Kershaw will head out to start a rehab project at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday. The 36-year-old lefty hasn’t pitched since undergoing surgery last November to restore the glenohumeral ligaments and capsule of his left shoulder. He posted a 2.46 ERA and 4.03 FIP in 131.2 innings final 12 months, making his tenth All-Star crew however lacking a lot of the second half as a result of shoulder soreness, and failing to make it out of the primary inning in a disastrous Division Sequence begin towards the Diamondbacks. When he re-signed with the Dodgers in early February, the overall assumption was that he’d return within the second half of the season, so he’s thought-about to be forward of schedule.

The Dodgers had entertained the notion that they might go to a six-man rotation that would come with Yamamoto, Miller, Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, James Paxton, and Walker Buehler, however such surpluses have a approach of dissipating earlier than they’ve absolutely materialized, proof constructive which you can by no means have an excessive amount of pitching. Mentioned Roberts, “A part of setting up the roster is getting an abundance of beginning pitching… In all places in baseball, guys go down at totally different instances, and also you’ve bought to have the ability to backfill. To know we’re getting Bobby again and Clayton is beginning a rehab project [this week] is definitely useful.”

Saturday additionally value the Dodgers the providers of Grove, who suffered an intercostal pressure and landed on the 15-day IL. The 27-year-old righty has made two spot begins and 26 reduction appearances, pitching to a 5.06 ERA and three.14 FIP in 37.1 innings. The Dodgers stuffed the 2 roster spots by recalling a pair of 31-year-old righty relievers, J.P. Feyereisen and Michael Petersen, from Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis. Feyereisen has 92 video games of main league expertise together with 9 this season, with a 6.00 ERA, 4.81 FIP, and 21.1% strikeout charge in 9 innings for the Dodgers. Petersen, who was born in London to an American father and Nigerian mom, and who lost the better part of three seasons to COVID-19, Tommy John surgical procedure, and different accidents, has by no means pitched within the majors however has posted a 1.61 ERA, 2.59 FIP, and 36.9% strikeout charge in 22.1 innings at OKC. His four-seam fastball has averaged 97.9 mph and topped out at 100.7 mph whereas holding batters to a .157 wOBA. The pitch has generated a 25.6% whiff charge whereas his cutter has generated a 37.5% whiff charge. He could possibly be an attention-grabbing addition.

As for Betts, within the backside of the seventh inning of Sunday’s recreation, he was drilled within the left hand by a 98-mph fastball from Royals righty Dan Altavilla, a 31-year-old journeyman making simply his third look of the season. Betts hit the dust instantly and writhed on the bottom in apparent ache for a couple of minutes earlier than strolling off the sphere. He was changed by pinch-runner Miguel Rojas, who took over at shortstop.

The Dodgers introduced after the sport that Betts had suffered a fracture (“I believe it was the metacarpal,” said Roberts) however wouldn’t want surgical procedure. There’s no timetable for his return. “It’s simply going to be relaxation and let the bones heal,” added the supervisor. Per Baseball Prospectus’ Craig Goldstein, hitters within the web site’s Restoration Dashboard database with comparable fractures have averaged 53 missed days, which might put Betts’ return in early August.

It’s truthful to wonder if the 31-year-old Betts will nonetheless be the Dodgers’ shortstop when he returns. Final 12 months, he break up his time beween proper area (77 begins), second base (62 begins) and brief (12 begins) within the wake of Gavin Lux’s season-ending ACL tear, and turned in an MVP-caliber season; he finally completed second within the voting behind Ronald Acuña Jr. The Dodgers planned for Betts to be a full-time second baseman this 12 months, with Lux at shortstop, however when the latter struggled defensively, the Dodgers swapped the 2 gamers’ positions. Betts, who had simply 112 inning of minor league expertise at shortstop circa 2011-12 earlier than final 12 months’s 98 innings within the majors, has labored arduous to acclimate to the place, although his defensive metrics have been a combined bag (-4 FRV, -3.6 UZR, 3 DRS). With Lux struggling on the plate (.212/.262/.280, 58 wRC+), and with different in-house alternate options for the keystone reminiscent of Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández failing to differentiate themselves, the Dodgers determine to be available in the market for a center infielder forward of the July 30 commerce deadline. The acquisition of a shortstop would presumably bump Betts again to second and Lux right into a diminished function.

Even with subpar defensive metrics, Betts has performed so nicely that his 3.5 WAR leads the NL. He’s hitting .304/.405/.488 with 10 dwelling runs, rating second within the league in on-base share and fourth with a 159 wRC+. That stated, he hasn’t hit for a lot energy since his torrid April:

A have a look at his Statcast numbers reveals that Betts’ barrel charge is lower than half what it was final 12 months:

In truth, each Betts’ barrel and hard-hit charges are his lowest since 2017. It’s truthful to wonder if he had been taking part in by means of a minor damage or had been worn down by the extra work he had been placing in to rise up to hurry at shortstop, although Betts and Roberts each shot down these theories not too long ago. Said Betts on June 6, “That is the very best I’ve felt since I used to be in all probability 21 or 22 years previous. In order that completely has no half. It’s simply purely me.”

Mentioned Roberts on the time, “I believe the lazy, simple reply is [that his recent struggles are] due to his workload at shortstop.” The supervisor later famous that the easier rationalization is that Betts has been liable to slumps up to now and was simply “lacking some pitches” he would normally hammer.

A fast peek at Statcast’s new bat-tracking metrics reveals that Betts has hardly ever been swinging for the fences. His common bat pace since Could 1 is barely quicker than earlier than (69.5 mph vs. 68.8 mph) however on both facet of the break up, his quick swing charge has solely been round 11%. He had been squaring up balls with larger frequency since Could 1 (38.9% vs. 37.5%, with the primary of these charges ranking second solely to Luis Arraez in that span), however his blast charge (the speed of squared-up balls on quick swings) has dropped from 15.6% to 10.7% inside the similar timeframe.

Regardless, Betts’ contact charge and plate self-discipline have nonetheless been sufficient to make for an above-average offensive contribution even in leaner instances. That’s been helpful with the Dodgers struggling to switch the manufacturing of injured third baseman Max Muncy and a banged-up, slumping Shohei Ohtani. Muncy has been out since Could 16 as a result of a strained indirect; his fill-ins (primarily Enrique Hernández with bit contributions from Rojas, Taylor, and newcomer Cavan Biggio) have mixed to “hit” .160/.233/.245 (42 wRC+) in his absence. In the meantime, Ohtani hit simply .206/.283/.392 (93 wRC+) in 114 PA from Could 16, when an errant pickoff throw bruised his proper hamstring, to Saturday. The day after Roberts cited a handful of developments that prompt he was rising from his droop, he went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo homers, together with a 451-footer, powering the Dodgers previous the Royals.

In Betts’ absence, the Dodgers plan to make use of Rojas at shortstop, with Enrique Hernández often filling in. The 35-year-old Rojas, who owns simply an 83 wRC+ for his profession, has hit a surprisingly strong .278/.328/.444 (122 wRC+) in 116 PA this 12 months, although his Statcast numbers don’t assist that; he’s produced a median exit velocity of simply 85.6 mph and a 3% barrel charge, along with his slugging share is 81 factors forward of his xSLG. The 32-year-old Hernández has hit simply .203/.272/.308 for a 70 wRC+, his third straight season of dismal manufacturing; his Statcast numbers are a bit higher, however a .358 xSLG isn’t a lot to put in writing dwelling about.

For as star-laden because the Dodgers could also be, and for as a lot depth as they’ve cultivated, they will’t assist however miss the presence of those two superstars. Their eight-game lead within the NL West, the place no different crew is above .500, does afford them some respiration room, however they’ve already been grinding for a month, going 15-13 since Muncy went down and Ohtani fell into his droop. With out Betts or Yamamoto, the following a number of weeks gained’t get any simpler.