TODAY: Turner will not require surgery to repair the fracture, he tells MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick (Twitter link). In fact, he’ll be able to begin working on regaining his range of motion after spending a few days in a brace. That seems like generally promising news, though clearly Turner will still be out to open the season.
YESTERDAY: Star Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner has been diagnosed with a broken left wrist after being hit by a pitch in tonight’s spring game, manager Dave Roberts said after the contest. (H/t Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, via Twitter). The unfortunate news strikes a blow to the defending National League champs less than two weeks before the start of the 2018 season.
Turner says it’s a “small, non-displaced fracture,” as Pedro Moura of The Athletic tweets, though we’ll need to await further information before it’s clear how long he’ll be out. Precise details of the injury, as well as its course of treatment and how the veteran proceeds through rehab, will obviously dictate the timeline. It seems clear, based upon generally similar past injuries, that Turner won’t be available for Opening Day and will be out for at least six weeks or so.
The 33-year-old Turner has been among the game’s more productive players in recent seasons. While he has dealt with some injuries, only once appearing in over 130 games since breaking out in Los Angeles, Turner has racked up 18.8 rWAR and 18.2 fWAR over the past four campaigns. He was never better at the plate than in 2017, when he posted an outstanding .322/.415/.530 slash with 21 home runs and more walks (59) than strikeouts (56) over 543 plate appearances.
Replacing that production isn’t reasonably possible, though the Dodgers are about as well-equipped as any team to do so. The club can bump Logan Forsythe to the hot corner while utilizing any number of players at second base. Veteran Chase Utley will no doubt see plenty off time against right-handers, as had already been expected, while versatile right-handed hitters Austin Barnes and Enrique Hernandez will surely also factor into the infield mix.
The injury to Turner will open an opportunity for another player to join the roster to open the season. It’s possible the club could carry an infielder such as Jake Peter or Donovan Solano, neither of whom is on the 40-man, though perhaps the likelier scenario is to keep another outfielder while utilizing Hernandez more on the dirt. Los Angeles is facing tough decisions on players such as Matt Kemp, Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles, and the out-of-options Trayce Thompson, so the injury to Turner could allow the club to keep one more of those names. Alternatively, the Dodgers could break camp with Kyle Farmer as a reserve catcher while giving Barnes more time at second base. Needless to say, there are plenty of possibilities.
crap…
Girthbrooks is positively hilarious
Was sitting behind home plate, sounded really bad…
Yeah dude I was over past 3rd base down the line and it sounded horrible. I had a bad feeling right when it happened. He was in agony
Was sitting in the dugout, sounded awful
I was standing at home plate, it was my wrist that was hit, and it sounded even worse.
I am mitochondria in the cells near Justin’s left elbow, and I’m really close friends with some of the ribosomes in Justin’s left wrist. They all let out a high-pitched shriek when it happened.
I’m an electron that make up the bone in the wrist that broke. Many of my bonds were broken as part of this. I wondered what happened. I think the sound was awful but I don’t have ears. It’s a mess in here…
I’m the ball that hit him, got him real good
Lmao
I am Justin’s glorious ginger flowing locks. Bask in my beauty while the lil’ boo boo heals.
I was in Chicago and the chandelier started shaking.
NO!!!!
Was sitting behind home plate, sounded really bad….
No kidding?
Naaaaah you weren’t sitting behind Home Plate.
Why would he make that up. Stop being such a cynic. You’ll enjoy life more.
Just giving him a hard time because he says it twice.
Because the guy has said it twice on this thread. BlackandYellow was being sarcastic. You should try and recognize sarcasm, you’ll enjoy life more.
People on the internet lie about the damnedest things
Relax.
Horrible news. Hopefully he will heal quickly and be ready to go in 6 weeks or so.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how they address 3B.
Yeah. Utley and Kiki platoon at 2B probably.
Trade for Jed Lowrie
Doubt they’d want to help out the A’s after this
Teams arent this petty
Not sure if you saw the pitch location but it wasn’t very far off the plate.
Justin Turner is notorious for crowding the plate. The pitch definitely got away from Graveman, but it isn’t like it was thrown way inside, and it definitely wasn’t on purpose.
I’d bet on Forstyhe playing 3B and 2B being a combination of Utley/Hernandez or even Taylor. Injury opens a spot for Joc now though
I could see Forsythe moving to 3B, Taylor taking 2B and Verdugo possibly getting a look in CF.
will verdugo get a roster spot now?
No. Too many other guys in the mix. Should allow Pederson, Toles, and one of Kemp/Thompson to all make it.
Turner should charge the mound next time he gets hit. Its ridiculous how often he gets plunked
Probably because he crowds the plate. It’s his game strategy.
Probably learned from Chase Utley, the active hit-by-pitch leader by an extremely wide margin.
Charge the mound and get injured…again
Charges mound, breaks ankle.
It’s just baseball ! It sucks that it happened though. Sorry Dodger fans, but good luck this year.
Hey Kenley, Dodgers should trade for Sandoval.
Turner was near the top of MLB in HBP last year and will continue to be as long as he stands on top of the plate. Just like A Rizzo. It’s just part of the game. Its just unfortunate he got hurt this time. No reason to change anything when he gets back either. There’s a reason why Turner and Rizzo are 2 of the best hitters in the NL
All because of Kendall Graveman.
His command has been garbage this spring. He better get it together quickly.
Yeah I mean what happens to that guy?!
He threw 5+ innings of scoreless ball with 7 Ks and 0 BB tonight if you bothered to pay attention past a stupid headline
Hit Turner and gave up 2 hits. That’s as good as we’ve seen him this spring and probably could have gone at least 7. He was only at 75 pitches through 5 1/3 innings.
And don’t mention the Hernandez HBP. The umpire had his eyes closed.
All because Turner crowds the plate and batters get hit often if they crowd the plate. It just happen to hit him in a most unfortunate spot.
I can think of a few other spots that would be much more unfortunate.
The pitch was about 3 inches inside
Why is this guy always getting hit? Seems like pitchers go in on his hands way too much. This pisses me off. Hit evensure how long he’s gonna be out can’t imagine him coming back for a while. That hurts us badly no matter how long it takes to recover. Good think we got another power bat with kemp coming back
Because Turner crowds the plate, and when pitchers throw inside, he has a higher chance of getting hit.
Nice
I’ve had a weird feeling that the dodgers would seriously underperform this year, and this certainly doesn’t help. Kershaw so badly needs to stay healthy, bellinger/puig need to repeat/improve, iffy SP depth needs to perform when the inevitable injuries come to Ryu, Hill, etc. Still so much potential obviously, but not a great look losing such a steady performer amidst a number of important question marks.
Hard to call a rotation that has guys with the upside of #3 starters at #4 and 5 in the rotation
iffy*
I said the starting pitching depth was iffy, but honestly so are some of the rotation mainstays themselves. Hill is aging and injury prone, ryu isn’t quite the same and is also injury prone, kershaw is a god but injury prone, Maeda has had injuries and isn’t exactly an ace, Wood also had injuries but is weirdly the safest bet outside kershaw. Yes, most could perform at elite level, but odds are against them staying healthy enough to do it.
You could make that “they could all get hurt ” argument for any rotation. Buehler is not exactly a bad depth option
Alex Wood is so underrated by the media and fans. Is it because he throws funny looking?
Wood career 3.2 ERA, 3.3 FIP, 8 1/2 K/9. That’s basically young Cole Hamels but Hamels threw like 20-30 more innings a season. Some of that could be attributed to a diff era.
I agree. Wood seems to be constantly underestimated. Just needs to stay healthy.
The dodgers only had two pitchers surpass 150 innings last season. Most teams didn’t have that egregious of a problem. Yes, anyone can get hurt, but all data points to the dodgers having more injury woes in the rotation than the average team. Not exactly earth-shattering observations here.
The Dodgers did that on purpose, exploiting the new 10-day DL to keep all their pitchers’ workloads low in anticipation of a long postseason run. It worked great, too. The pitchers weren’t actually injury-prone. The Dodgers were utilizing the DL as a de facto taxi squad.
The Angels and Mets would like a word with you about what its like to have injuries on the pitching staff.
I think the Angels
and Rangers and Mets pitchers might qualify as well !
Certainly at times, but things such as kershaw’s back and hill’s recurring blisters can’t be spun into a positive DL manipulation narrative.
Oh I think they can
I mean, is it good to have chronic blisters and back problems? Wild rebuttals here.
Not sure why there are so many rebuttals. They were so exhausting to read when you were trying to make a simple point.
I mean, Kershaw himself said he could have pitched through his back pain. The Dodgers had eight starting pitchers for a reason last year. They were using the DL as a taxi squad. They weren’t going to let any pitcher pitch in any sort of discomfort.
Dodgers window to win is likely over. Needed last year.
Window to win is likely over? I don’t think there’s really a window that close to closing. There’s another wave of talent on its way, add that to they have a deep farm and outrageous budget. That window is not close to closing.
I feel vindicated. I got so much right.
As a Giants fan I still think this sucks. I hate seeing players injured even players who constantly give us nightmares. Hope he recovers quickly and is back on the field. He’s a wonderful player even if he does have a stupid hipster leprechaun beard!
I love the final comment as it balances out how ridiculously generous you are to the opposition. Go climb back into your den! 😉
Well you gotta admit he looks like Warwick Davis in leprechaun.
HAHA . Thanks @DimitriinLA! I couldn’t be 100% nice towards an LA player in my post, otherwise I’d be kicked out of the SF Fan Club!!
Yes you would
Turner’s performance was worth upward of $44M, according to Fangraphs, suggesting he’s close to paying off his contract (four years $64M)
Big fan of Turner. Special player. Big loss if he’s out.
Special player—likely for a very short stretch.
He’s been great for four straight years, and amazing in three of them.
Contrast this to Red Sox fans who actively root for their pitchers to plunk Yankee players and injure them, and applaud it when opposing players (on any team) go down hurt.
Go on Twitter any time something even remotely small happens. Literally every fan base has people saying guys should be hit, singling out one fan base is dumb.
When did they applaud an injury? If that actually happened, that’s awful
I’m a Red Sox fan and actively read the Red Sox articles and can’t remember reading any comments by Red Sox fans who were happy when the opposition gets hurt. No true baseball fans are happy to see other teams players get hurt. There are always a few individuals out there that may be mean spirited but to characterize an entire fan base is just petty and wrong. Hopefully Turner won’t be out long.
That reporter who asked Roberts whether Buehler will be starting game 3 or game 4 may have jynxed it. (Obviously, they’re still the favorite, but still- this doesn’t help)
AJ Preller needs to give them a call and see if the Dodgers are interested in trading for Chase Headley.
The answer would be no. Especially since the response for padres taking back Kemp would the same. Forsythe will get the bulk of the time at 3rd.
Turner gets hit a lot; bummer to see this as he’s a good player but the Dodgers have a ton of depth. It’s a division in which every other team is deeply flawed, so it probably won’t have much of an effect on the standings, but it might cost the Dodgers a win or two, especially if he misses a couple months.
Brandon Phillips, Yunel Escobar, JJ Hardy, and Stephen Drew could all be a player to fill that spot!! More Phillips or Escobar
Wow. Lol
I can’t believe I forgot these guys.
Unless the injury is much more serious than it appears, the Dodgers won’t be looking at any of these players.
Josh Harrison?
None of those. Management has already made a completely clear statement about how they plan to handle Turner’s absence with internal solutions, involving moving Forsythe to 3B and using Utley and Hernandez in a 2B platoon (backed up by Peter and Solano). Now if Turner’s injury is worse than it seems, then they might well make a more dramatic move. Not now though.
Maybe if he was gonna be out for like 2 months. If he misses just some of April, the most they might do is sign someone to a minor league deal to add depth.
They’d probably bring Darwin Barney back before bringing any of those guys in jk, but as the article said, they have Jake Peter and Donovan Solano they can put on the 40 man roster
They want to remain under the luxury cap so they can add pitching they’ll desperately need at the deadline.
There is the unlikely trade scenario for Danny Valencia. He’s had trouble in the clubhouse before, reportedly. But with Trayce Thompson out of options and this temporary need for infield depth, it makes some sense to at least explore. Valencia on Minors deal with Os behind Machado
Phillips has, basically retired. He hasn’t made it official but he has said he’s not playing this season. It was reported on this site, in fact.
This obviously sucks as a Dodgers fan but knowing the depth this organization has and it’s quick ability to plug holes, I’m really not that worried. Obviously no one can replace JT, but the Dodgers have no shortage of options as far as keeping it together till he comes back
I’m surprised no one has come up with a baseball version of the hockey glove.
The padding would need to be thinner and the thumb plating would have to be removed but it could be designed to provide protection without restricting range of motion.
The pitch that hit Turner would have hit most any batter.
The being said, Turner leans out over the plate. He drags his hands through the strike zone. He gets hit a lot for a reason.
Speedy recovery, Justin.
As a Cubs fan, I’ll be praying for a speedy recovery!! Turner is one of the best players at his position, he’s an amazing player to watch, and I hope he’s back in no time. I’ve been a die hard baseball fan for life and would rather see every team at full strength. Get better JT; fingers crossed!
So this injury obviously is terrible. Def they don’t lose much. Offensively it’s a bit of a blow. The Dodgers just lost their best hitter for probably close to a 1/3 of the year. And wrists are tricky. This probably saved Thompson a roster spot. Headley along with all those on the FA market (Phillips, Escobar) don’t fill needs and aren’t FO players. They aren’t going to spend money and even further hamstring themselves at the deadline. I think this injury makes it even more pressing that they find a home for Kemp. That TDL bill might have potentially become more expensive. The one good thing you can say is the Dodgers have played without Turner for extended periods of time before and have depth.
Forget hockey gloves. The same or a variation of what cricket players use is what they need.
The players hands and even wrists are their tools. I’m surprised they’re so blasé about protecting them
This sucks. No other way to say it.
Its just one of those things, sucks us fans dont get to see an elite player for a month or two, but otherwise it doesnt actually matter in the grand scheme of things.
If only Mike Moustakas held out a few more days. However, Brandon Phillips or Yunel Escobar are available and can platoon with Utley while Logan Forsythe moves to the hot corner. I wouldn’t mind Phillips or Escobar on the bench when Turner comes back.
Moose would not have signed to be a temporary starter and then move to the bench. Thats not how you build value for your next foray into FA.
I think they’ll use Chris Taylor at 3rd, move Joc to center, and put Kemp in left.
I don’t follow the Dodgers to closely…. can Barnes play a decent 2b?
Couldn’t sleep for a couple hours after hearing about this last night. Not mad at the A’s though, just the Astros
Right or left? Even though I’m not a dodger dude I hate when injuries occur even though it’s part of sports. 2 weeks now then a month into season, could be worse
Left wrist, but don’t you think 6 weeks sounds a little optimistic? It’s a fracture, not full on broken wrist, but still, I’m imagining him being out for two weeks spring training plus about 2 months of the season.
My brother just broke his wrist playing hockey and he gets his cast off after 6 weeks. Having to return to being an MLB caliber player might have a different timeline though.
If for any reason it comes back Turner is out for the season then the Dodgers should check in on Machado. They have a good enough farm to make it happen.
Well as a giants fan, though it sucks that he got injured, it makes me more comfortable that the giants are scheduled to play a lot of the Dodger games in the first month of the season this year, maybe we don’t get destroyed out of the gate and suffer the same fate as last year
That’s what I was thinking too. I hope he recovers quickly after we play the Dodgers a bunch.
Preller should be on the horn right now trying to trade Headley to LA for anything he can get.
Won’t happen. LA is well rounded and very good. Teams that are built like the current Dodgers have the ability to sustain a loss like this. They’ve proven that lots of times in the recent past. While his production will be missed, they don’t survive on his numbers alone. Plus they’ve been known to go on an unheard of tear from time to time. They’ll be good.
I think Headley has some value – he’s been, basically a 2-win player his whole career and is paid appropriately. The problem is that the Dodgers value versatility, and Headley’s only real position is third base. The Yanks tried him out at first last season and he was adequate there but the Dodgers probably don’t need any other first basemen.
Am I the only one that thinks Joc is a good change of Scenery candidate?
No you’re not. Somethings gotta give with this kid. He has all the talent but maybe LA is too much for the guy? Maybe he’d thrive in a smaller market? What’s your idea of a good fit for Joc?
Think he has to stay in the National league. Maybe the reds or cards. I would love to have him on my Braves though.
I could see the Cardinals making this trade as long as they don’t have to give up any prospects, take on any salary and they can dump some of their current financial commitments. Plus he comes cheap which the fans love.
He is cheap, so he will cost a top 30 prospect.
Pederson doesn’t need a change of scenery, he needs a change of swing.
Actually he needs to stop tweaking his swing. That’s the main problem. He’s a constant tinkerer. He closed holes in 2016 and showed massive improvement which was a legitimate reason to get excited, but then he overhauled it in 17.
I haven’t seen any significant changes. He still has that huge loopy swing from his heals that practically takes him out from under his helmet, and because of it he can’t hit opposite field to save his life.
He was able to clean up his swing path and even more so showed a massive step in approach in the WS. He knows the strike zone that’s never been the problem. It’s tended to be his approach that’s failed him along with the constant tinkering. He’ll probably always have to do maintenance on his swing path, because there are periods where he gets way to long. I guess the question becomes will he continue to mature as a hitter and stick with a swing and approach for long enough to allow him to grow as a hitter? Even in ST I’m wasn’t worried about his results, because I have no clue what he’s working. And he’s starting to heat up as ST has started to role which tells me he’s feeling his swing a little bit. I’m somewhat intrigued how that translates over to this season.
He’s always had streaks were he can hit for decent average and of course power but they aren’t sustained. In these days of infield shifts, especially against LF power hitters, an inability to drive the ball the other way is going to be deadly. It’s something I know coaching has been trying to get him to do for years now. At this point I don’t see much mystery in Pederson’s problem or any real cause to think it will change. He’s already 26 years 0ld. The time to figure it out is slipping away quickly.
Ouch. Here’s to ya JT.
Dang I like JT too. He’s the only Doyer I can tolerate. I wish it had happened to Puig or Bellinger instead.
You wish other players had gotten hurt… what a garbage comment.
Ok fine. I wish nothing but agonizingly painful injury to Puig only. Bellinger is off my injury wish list and he has you to thank.
Can’t believe I’m saying this but I could see a Giants worst to first year similar to ’13 Sox up ahead. Complete rebuild with experienced players for Giants and Dodgers could get a World Series hangover. Not saying Giants will be better than the Dodgers, just saying that division could be a little closer this year than last.
Dodgers without Turner are still an easily better team than the Giants. Kemp basically gives the same offense as McCutchen. If he can play adequate defense the Dodgers are in good shape
This sucks… hope he heals up quickly.
Freddie Freeman was supposed to be out 10 weeks when he fractured his left wrist (he’s a LH batter, throws RH). Just curious to know why Turner (RH/RH) is being a 6-week timetable and if anyone thinks it could effect his swing mechanics when coming back.
6 week is the standard, if you go to the hospital with a broken arm it is usually a 6 week healing process till the cast comes off, more likely it will be like, 8 because once he is out of a cast he will need some rehab games.
Different breaks in different places and different bodies and probably about a thousand other variables.
Remembering Orlando Hudson’s wrist injury. He was able to play for several years afterwards, but his range of motion never fully returned.
Hard to replace Turner’s big bat but if they move Taylor to 3B, and acquire Domingo Santana who the Brewers have been trying to move since the Cain/Yelich acquisitions to no avail, they might not see such a big dropoff.
Anyone have a Kendall Blackman voodoo doll?
Graveman*
Chase Headley will receive plenty OF time not OFF time = )
Do they trade with the royals for Moose?
No they aren’t eating their 4-5 M TDL cap room to trade for a player that does not fit their principles. Then again it’s a different story if the Royals take a chunk of Kemp’s salary. So the easy answer is no.
I was at my cubicle when I read that it doesn’t require surgery
Oh yeah? I was behind home plate.
I was on the can.
TMI. 🙂
Trade? Why the heck would the Dodgers make a trade to fill a 6 to 8 week vacancy, especially when they have quality 3b options all over the roster? Heck, I’m confident even Oklahoma City third baseman Rob Segedin would fill the position just fine.
Do a deal with the Atlanta Braves to send Trayce Thompson and Donovan Solano east and get back playoff wonderkind Charlie Culberson. Culberson is a better 3B option and infield backup than Solano and Braves could use a right handed outfielder to replace Lane Adams who has had a rough spring and needs time in AAA.
I mean Culberson was traded, because he was most likely going to be a 40 man roster casualty. Nothing has really changed. He had a great WS, but let’s be honest he head hunted fb and the Astros SP tried to beat him with fbs. He’s likely to get exposed when teams game plan against him. That said not really a fit on the Dodgers roster even with Turner’s injury. Love his professionalism though.