The Los Angeles Dodgers are getting a double gut-punch this weekend.
Speaking with reporters after Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Royals, manager Dave Roberts revealed the extent of the injuries suffered by NL MVP frontrunner Mookie Betts and standout starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Roberts revealed that Betts suffered a fractured left hand but will not require surgery. The injury isn’t expected to be season-ending but will take time to heal.
#Dodgers Dave Roberts has shared Mookie Betts has fractured his left hand, he will not require surgery, but it will take time to heal. It’s not a season-ending injury.
— Kirsten Watson (@kirsten_watson) June 16, 2024
Roberts also said something similar about Yamamoto, revealing that the righty hurler has a strained right rotator cuff. Yamamoto’s injury is not season-ending either but will also require some time to heal.
#Dodgers Dave Roberts said that Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a strained rotator cuff, added that it’s not season-ending, but it will take time to heal.
— Kirsten Watson (@kirsten_watson) June 16, 2024
Betts was injured in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game when he was hit in the hand by a Dan Altavilla fastball, sending him crumpling to the ground in pain (video here). Meanwhile, Yamamoto exited his start Saturday against the Royals after just two innings having experienced decreased velocity.
For the Dodgers to lose both Betts, their versatile .304-hitting leadoff man, and Yamamoto, the co-anchor of their rotation alongside Tyler Glasnow, on the same weekend is just devastating. To replace the former, Shohei Ohtani may have to move into the leadoff spot with both Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernandez filling in at Betts’ shortstop position. To replace the latter, the Dodgers might need to call up a pitcher (such as Landon Knack), especially since Walker Buehler, James Paxton, and Bobby Miller (who is just about to return from injury himself) have been inconsistent this season. That could be the new reality for the Dodgers over the next several months.
