The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Jason Heyward on the 10-day injured list with a left knee bone bruise and recalled James Outman from Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to their series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Heyward suffered his left knee injury in the first inning on Thursday. He attempted to rob Joc Pederson of a home run and remained down in a crouch for a brief moment after landing. Heyward took his at-bat in the bottom half of the inning and wasn’t removed until the start of the third inning.
“I felt it immediately when I landed,” Heyward explained after the Dodgers’ loss. “The play happened fast. It was one of those in the outfield where it still looks like you can catch the ball. Of course, if I caught it, it would have been like robbing a homer. But that’s usually how those look.
“It’s like hey, you never know, so jump just in case, and it didn’t hook all the way back to me. He hit it well enough, timing is everything on those plays. Bust as soon as I landed, it felt like one of those trust falls. Happened fast and I put my feet down and I was like, ‘Alright, this doesn’t feel great.’
“Adrenaline has definitely worn off. In the game, while I was still in there, if anything, it felt more like I wasn’t able to fire, I guess, if that makes sense. So that wasn’t feeling like normal. Wanted to be able to push through, but then needed to get it looked at and make sure I wasn’t doing any more damage.”
Heyward already spent six weeks on the injured list this season because of lower back tightness. His recovery process included multiple setbacks that required seeing a specialist.
“This is the first time anything like this one,” Heyward said of the knee trouble. “Had knee injuries before from wear and tear, but nothing structurally this way. So this is the first.”
Fortunately for Heyward and the Dodgers, an MRI did not reveal any damage to his meniscus or other knee ligaments.
Heyward is batting .203/.299/.398 with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs and 20 RBI this season. Heyward’s 42 games played this year are behind only Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages among Dodgers outfielders. Chris Taylor has appeared in 50 games, but that includes time in the infield as well.
James Outman back with Dodgers
Outman is on the Dodgers roster for the first time since he was demoted May 17 as a corresponding move to Heyward returning from his back injury.
Manager Dave Roberts deemed it a “tough” decision and expressed some surprise over the development given the team’s expectations for Outman coming off a strong rookie season.
Outman has hit just .147/.250/.266 with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI in 36 games with the Dodgers so far this season.
He fared much better upon joining Oklahoma City, batting .279/.393/.531 with eight doubles, nine home runs and 21 RBI through 38 games.
