The Los Angeles Dodgers recently welcomed back Walker Buehler and Blake Treinen from the injured list, but still are without several key contributors.
Jason Heyward has been sidelined since April 3 when he was placed on the 10-day IL because of lower back tightness that was initially believed to be relatively minor. However, the veteran outfielder’s absence has extended more than a month due to lingering discomfort.
Heyward has since resumed baseball activities but will need to complete a rehab assignment before he is activated.
Ryan Brasier is also expected to miss a significant amount of time after being placed on the 15-day IL at the end of April with a right calf strain.
Dodgers injuries
Jason Heyward
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Heyward is close to beginning a rehab assignment after taking some swings over the weekend. “He’s really close,” Roberts said of Heyward.
“He hit in the group on Saturday, he’ll hit in the group today. And he’s doing this Trajekt machine that we have in the cage setup. So he’s taken some at-bats there. So as far as rehab, he’s close.
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“We don’t have it planned out yet, but he’s getting there. So I don’t see it happening during this homestand, but after the off day, it might be a conversation.”
Roberts is hopeful that Heyward taking swings against the advanced Trajekt machine will lessen the need to face live pitching in his rehab. “I think it cuts into it,” Roberts said.
“This machine is a pretty realistic machine, so you can log a lot of at-bats with that. And they’re still certainly coming back. There’s only a certain amount you want to take each day, but I think that cuts into it.
“But for a position player, the up-and-down, running out to right field, sitting, playing again, all that stuff plays into that. We got to do the best we can simulating that.”
Prior to landing on the IL, Heyward had just three hits and two RBI in 14 at-bats across four games. He batted .269/.340/.473 with 23 doubles, 15 home runs, 40 RBI, 56 runs scored in 124 games (98 starts) last year.
Ryan Brasier
Roberts said Brasier is coming along in his recovery but estimates he will be out for at least two months. “It’s coming, I think he’s doing a great job of using his arm and keeping his arm in shape,” Roberts said of Brasier.
“Saw him down today playing catch, flat ground, it was coming out really well. But the calf is one of the trickier muscles, in the sense of it feels good until it doesn’t, and then you can really take a couple steps back.
“So I think we’re being really cautious. The last one he had was two months, couple years ago, so that’s probably still a safe bet.”
Brasier has pitched to a 4.63 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 12 games (one start) this season. The right-hander’s fastball velocity has been down from normal averages and he’s dealt with some inconsistency as well.
