LOS ANGELES — As the Dodgers wait for any of their many injured pitchers to return, there is one area of the team that is back to full strength – the outfield.
Teoscar Hernandez was activated from the Injured List on Monday after missing two weeks with a strained adductor muscle in his left leg. Tommy Edman returned on Sunday and started in center field.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts now has six options to sort through for three positions – Hernandez, Edman, Andy Pages, Michael Conforto, Kike’ Hernandez and Hyeseong Kim.
Pages started in right field each of the 12 games that Teoscar Hernandez missed, going 15 for 52 (.288) 13 RBIs and an .802 OPS. But Kim got the start in center field Monday with Pages on the bench.
Roberts said Pages’ playing time will not be impacted by the new collection of outfielders, and Monday was just a “sporadic” off day because “we’ve pushed him a lot.” Pages started a team-high 44 of the Dodgers’ first 47 games this season.
“Andy is an everyday player. And I think that I’ve shown that,” Roberts said. “He’s earned it.”
Edman and Hernandez will not play every day immediately after returning from injuries, Roberts said, and he plans to give Conforto a day off during the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That will create opportunities to get Kim playing time.
“I think with Tommy and Teo, obviously, getting them back will be huge, but I don’t think they’re going to be ready to ‘Iron Man’ it quite yet,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said on Sunday. “We’ll mix in guys and figure that out, and as guys get to be more healthy and playing more, we’ll figure out where to go from there.”
“As we’ve learned over the years and certainly this year, that’ll work itself out,” Roberts said.
If anyone’s playing time is going to be cut, Conforto would be the most likely option. After starting the season with a miserable .134 average and .505 OPS through the first 39 games of the season, Conforto had a five-game burst, going 8 for 19 with five doubles. But he was 1 for 9 in three games before Monday.
PLAYING CATCH
While Evan Phillips and Roki Sasaki have not begun playing catch, a number of other players on the Dodgers’ long list of injured pitchers have taken steps on the road back.
Right-hander Tyler Glasnow is throwing on flat ground and long-tossing out to 120 feet. Left-hander Blake Snell has begun playing catch out to 90 feet. Glasnow is getting close to throwing off a mound but won’t before this homestand ends Wednesday.
The timetable for either to return to the Dodgers’ rotation remains uncertain.
“They’re both going to be viable options at some point,” Roberts said. “I would say Tyler is a tick ahead of Blake, but I still don’t know what that looks like. I really don’t.”
Sasaki has not started a throwing program but Roberts said he believes the pain in Sasaki’s shoulder has dissipated and he could start playing catch while the Dodgers are on the road.
Five pitches into his start on Sunday, right-hander Tony Gonsolin was very close to coming out of the game with a bloody thumb. But Roberts said that will not impact Gonsolin’s next start. He lines up to start again Saturday against the Mets.
Among the Dodgers’ injured relievers, Blake Treinen has begun playing catch and Michael Kopech is scheduled to make another rehab appearance with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday.
This will be Kopech’s fourth outing with OKC. The results have not been good. He has allowed eight runs while recording five outs in all. He has allowed just three hits (one a home run) but walked six (including the first five batters he faced). Roberts said Kopech is expected to make at least three more rehab appearances before he would be considered for activation.
“With Blake, Evan, most of our guys, where we’re at now, we’ve got to make sure we nail it in getting them back and making sure we’re not rushing them – to have them back for the last third of the season,” Roberts said.
FIRST PITCH
The Dodgers went into Monday’s game tied for 21st in the majors with a 4.21 staff ERA. The number is certainly inflated by the subtraction of so many injured pitchers. But Roberts thinks he knows what else is a major contributor.
“I think, for me just kind of on first glance, we need to be better at getting ahead in counts,” Roberts said. “It doesn’t take a deep dive to see we start 1-and-0 quite often. When you do that, it makes pitching tough. So I think we’ve got to start being more efficient, certainly from the starters, to give us an opportunity to get deeper into games. The 30-pitch innings just don’t play. It’s not sustainable. And that starts with getting strike one. That ultimately goes to our entire pitching staff.”
Through Sunday, the Dodgers had the seventh-lowest percentage of first-pitch strikes (59.8 percent). Their average number of pitches per inning (17.08) was the seventh highest.
“Overall I think it’s a mindset,” Roberts said. “I think over my tenure here we’ve been very good at getting ‘Strike one.’ To be at the bottom of the barrel in that facet of pitching is something that is disconcerting and is certainly not helpful.”
ALSO
To activate Teoscar Hernandez from the Injured List, the Dodgers sent James Outman back to Oklahoma City. Outman was 3 for 24 (.125) with a home run but 13 strikeouts in nine games while Hernandez was out.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks (RHP Ryne Nelson, 1-1, 5.13 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 5-3, 2.12 ERA), Tuesday 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market only), 570 AM