With the Dodgers set to take part of their second Opening Day of the yr after sweeping the Cubs out of Tokyo earlier this month, the membership supplied a handful of well being updates previous to in the present day’s recreation. That features an replace that right-hander Michael Kopech supplied to reporters, together with The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, relating to the fitting shoulder impingement that he was positioned on the injured checklist with previous to the Tokyo Sequence.
In response to Kopech, he wasn’t affected by a particular shoulder harm this spring however as a substitute that he ramped up too shortly early in camp as his forearm was prepared for a heavier workload than his shoulder firstly of Spring Coaching. That difficulty has been resolved, nonetheless, and whereas a abdomen bug slowed him earlier this month he’s now feeling good and has begun to ramp up. By way of her general arm well being, Kopech even went so far as to point to reporters that his arm is feeling higher than it was final season.
The appropriate-hander famously pitched to a sterling 1.13 ERA with a 2.54 FIP in 24 innings of labor down the stretch whereas putting out 33% of his opponents after being traded from the White Sox to the Dodgers, and if he can put up numbers even near that this yr that needs to be an enormous enhance to a Dodgers bullpen that already options gifted arms like Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, and Alex Vesia. He’ll need to get again on the mound first earlier than he can match these massive expectations, however that appears prone to come sooner or later in April.
Kopech isn’t the one one who’s been coping with sickness recently within the Dodgers’ clubhouse. Utilityman Enrique Hernandez is anticipated to overlook the season opener in the present day and will not even be current within the ballpark, as relayed by ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. Gonzalez notes that Hernandez has been struggling to maintain meals down as a result of sickness, and supervisor Dave Roberts added that his hope is that Hernandez’s sickness shouldn’t be the identical was the one which stored Mookie Betts out of the Tokyo Sequence. Betts misplaced greater than 15 kilos as a result of illness and was despatched again to the U.S. forward of the remainder of the membership to get well.
If Hernandez proves to be that stage of ailing, a keep on the injured checklist can’t be completely dominated out although he stays day-to-day in the meanwhile. He figures to be a fixture of the membership’s lineup in opposition to left-handed pitchers, although the presence of choices like Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas ought to assist to fill the void created by Hernandez’s absence if he wants just a few days off. A visit to the injured checklist, in the meantime, might open the door for James Outman to return to the majors or, maybe, for Hyeseong Kim to make his massive league debut after being optioned to the minors to start out the season.
Talking of Betts, the famous person is again within the Dodgers’ beginning lineup in the present day after lacking the Tokyo Sequence. As famous by MLB.com’s Andres Soto, Betts stays day-to-day after dropping down to simply 157 kilos as a result of sickness, however he’s began to place that weight again on and energy exams have indicated he’s again to regular. Clearly, the return of Betts to lineup needs to be an enormous catalyst for the Dodgers, who needed to go with out two of their three MVP hitters in the course of the Tokyo Sequence however determine to have a lineup that’s kind of again to full energy going ahead. If Betts does want a time without work right here or there, Rojas and Tommy Edman are each able to dealing with shortstop in his stead.
