by Megan Garcia
The Dodgers’ days of playing at less-than-full-strength are coming to an end.
One day after manager Dave Roberts shared that Mookie Betts will remain at shortstop when he’s activated from the injured list and now bat second behind Shohei Ohtani, the eight-time All-Star reinforced he’ll be ready to go when it’s time to return.
Betts will not need to go out on a rehab assignment before he returns. He said on Wednesday that his left hand has returned to full strength.
“I’m confident in my abilities to go play wherever, whatever they think is best for the team,” Betts said. “When the lights turn on, it doesn’t matter. You got to be ready to go and I’ll be ready to go.”
Betts was slashing .304/.405/.488/.893 with 10 home runs and 40 RBI before sustaining a left-hand fracture when he was hit by a pitch on June 16.
Third baseman Max Muncy and recently acquired utilityman Tommy Edman are the next pieces of the puzzle. They will go out on rehab assignments this weekend with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Roberts said.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s timeline to return is uncertain, but the right-hander threw a bullpen on Tuesday and is scheduled to throw another at Dodger Stadium this week. He has been on the injured list since June 16 with a strained rotator cuff.
“Overall rehab program has been good. Every time I go into (the bullpen), I feel better than the previous one. I think I am getting better.” Yamamoto said.
On if he is confident that he will pitch in a Major League game again this year, Yamamoto said: “Yes, of course. That’s still the same goal.”
Yamamoto was sporting a 2.92 ERA through 14 starts this season. He has been long-tossing at Dodger Stadium and progressing in his rehab as the days go by. Yamamoto said he is close to where he was pre-injury.
“With the data and the numbers, I think it’s getting back to where they were,” Yamamoto said. “And my feeling is also getting back.”
Brusdar Graterol and the Dodgers received positive news after he had an MRI on Wednesday. Graterol’s hamstring injury, suffered eight pitches into his season debut on Tuesday, is a grade-one hamstring strain.
“We’re going to kind of go through the process of resting and rehabbing it,” Roberts said. “Still hopeful that he’ll return at some point this year.”
The Dodgers are closer to getting their muscle back was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.