Cody Bellinger has not played since a collision at first base on April 5, and it’s unclear when he will be back now that a new injury was discovered.
Bellinger was placed on the injured list four days after the collision. He was making progress in his recovery at first. However, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week that Bellinger hit a plateau. That led to more tests, which revealed a new injury.
Now, the Dodgers announced that Bellinger has a hairline fracture in his left fibula, which was likely slowing his recovery.
If you’re wondering how long Bellinger will be out, that’s the tricky part.
Earlier on Friday, Roberts said on MLB Network that for him, Bellinger’s injury was “going to be at least another week or two.”
But after the announcement of the hairline fracture, Roberts did not give a timetable.
If Roberts knew of the hairline fracture when he was on MLB Network, that would be a positive sign about how long Bellinger might be out. Dodgers fans could reasonably expect a return at some point after a week or two. But if Roberts didn’t, then that would be bad news, as maybe the injury would take more time.
Bellinger was batting .211 in 14 games this season. The 25-year-old outfielder won NL MVP in 2019 after smashing 47 home runs.
