The Dodgers announced they’ve reinstated Trea Turner from the COVID-19 injured list. He’s not in tonight’s starting lineup, but he could make his team debut off the bench this evening. Reliever Victor González has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 4, with right knee inflammation to open active roster space. To create 40-man roster space, the team has transferred righty Jimmy Nelson to the 60-day injured list. Nelson will undergo Tommy John surgery and a right flexor tendon repair procedure.
Whether tonight or tomorrow, Turner is soon to get into his first game as a Dodger. The All-Star shortstop came over alongside Max Scherzer last week as part of deadline season’s top blockbuster. The 28-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before the trade, though, so he’s remained in isolation until today.
Turner adds another elite player to a lineup already chock-full of stars. He’s hitting .322/.369/.521 with eighteen home runs across 420 plate appearances, his second consecutive season of elite offensive output. One of the game’s best baserunners, Turner has also swiped 21 bags, all while playing average or better defense at shortstop. The whole package makes Turner one of the sport’s most valuable position players, although he seems likely to slide over to second base in deference to Corey Seager in L.A. Wherever he plays, Turner should be a massive boon to a Dodger club that trails the league-best Giants by four games in the NL West.
It’s not all positive news on the health front for the Dodgers with Nelson undergoing surgery. While the club didn’t provide a timetable for his return beyond ruling him out for the rest of this season, it seems likely he’ll miss the entire 2022 campaign rehabbing. It’s crushing news for a respected, high-quality pitcher who has been plagued by a series of long-term health issues in recent seasons.
Nelson looked like a potential top-of-the-rotation starter after a stellar 2017 season with the Brewers. A shoulder injury cost him the entire 2018 campaign, though. That kept him out for a good chunk of the 2019 season too, with an elbow injury costing him another month that year. Nelson was ineffective when he was healthy enough to pitch, and Milwaukee non-tendered him at the end of that season.
The Dodgers signed Nelson during the 2019-20 offseason, but a July back surgery prevented him from pitching all year. Los Angeles brought Nelson back on a minor league deal to work in relief, and he made good on his end of that agreement. The 32-year-old pitched to a sterling 1.86 ERA over 29 frames this year, emerging as a potential high-leverage option for manager Dave Roberts. Unfortunately, he landed on the IL with elbow inflammation on Wednesday. That issue apparently requires surgical repair.
Nelson will hit free agency at the end of this season. He could field some multi-year offers from teams with an eye toward the 2023 campaign. Alternatively, Nelson could rehab the injury on his own and look to market himself to clubs after he has returned to health. Either way, it’s a devastating turn of events for a player who has already overcome more than his fair share of health issues.
sdbaseballguy
29 pretty good innings from Nelson this season. A success? It costs the Dodgers $500,000 for those innings. Not a bad deal compared to Bauer.
BrewersMVP08
Bauer gonna be bending over real soon in lockup
bbatardo
So you saying he will be a catcher instead of a pitcher?
sdbaseballguy
He’ll be their Otani, play many positions.
retire21
Wow. A trifecta of homophobic tropes. Well done tough guys!
Deleted User
Jokes implying prison r@pe is bad is not being homophobic. Imagine indirectly defending r@pe to signal how inclusive you are. What an idiot.
Down with OBP
Such jokes are so funny and non-offensive in fact, it explains why you had to use “@“ to spell out the word the joke is referring to…smh
Deleted User
No one said the jokes weren’t offensive, but they aren’t homophobic. Seriously, is this site the tryouts for the idiot olympics or something?
retire21
You should buy a new dictionary and thesaurus. Yours are broken.
BRUH.SF.BRUH
@Brewers Bauer is a huge pile, but I doubt he’s going to jail.
mannyl101
Wow? I didn’t know you had inside info on what happened with Bauer?
mvlastowski
Can’t believe this crap! You already have him convicted w/o knowing the entire story. I hope you get accused of something and get judged the same way you have him! Glass houses people!!!
Dusty Baker's tooth pick.
Have you seen her face? Also no one on his team wants him back despite the fact he is a super talented pitcher and the Dodgers are on a chase for the #1 spot. That tells me a lot about him. Bauer always gave me bad vibes And he’s a cancer.
cencal
You know for an absolute fact that Bauer did that to her face? Is just a little possible that she did it to herself? Did she not drive from LA to SD and pass countless ERs after this “assault” and instead essentially straight to her civil lawyer? Seems odd. I never tell my family or loved ones to make sure to go straight to the lawyer if you are sexually assaulted, but that’s me.
We are 3 months since the PPD started an investigation without charges. This should tell everyone something that no charges have been filed in 3 months and the Bauer has not been arrested.
In case you need crayons, it means that things didn’t happen that way she is claiming or at a minimum, the situation is not as cut and dry as her lawyer’s statement.
Please proceed with your virtual signaling though
BRUH.SF.BRUH
@Cencal you seem quite enlightened. Would you explain virtual signaling to us please? I’m dying to know…
stevewpants
Jimmy’s out of work because of U(CL)!
Chief Two Hands
Don’t touch Jimmy!
In other news, George likes his chicken spicy.
bobtillman
Only with the Dodgers would Trea Turner be a backup IF….
jdichter
I doubt that. He’ll slide into bellingers spot in CF. Taylor at 2B and muncy at 1B. The lineup is potent. Sadly the bullpen will be the downfall. Unless Knebel comes back and stays healthy. Their may be hope.
Deleted User
Why wouldn’t they just play Turner at 2B and play Taylor in CF? Taylor is already used to that position (and playing there tonight) rather than making Turner re-learn outfield midseason (which he piss poor at when they played him there in WAS in the first place.). I swear people don’t think their takes through at all.
Smacky
That’s exactly what they plan to do. Heard Dave Roberts say as much. They are gonna have rat face Taylor take balls at 3rd too.
fox471 Dave
Only here would a guy called smacky call an all star rat face.
fox471 Dave
Huh? Why move Taylor back to the infield? Unfortunately, Bellinger is or should be the odd man out. No brainer. If Betts or JT or Pollock need a break, Belli is available.
Shrutefarm
Unfortunately, Mookie re-aggravated his hip tonight. So, looks like Belli will be staying in the lineup a bit longer.
One step forward and one step back for these Dodgers this year.
BlueSkies_LA
T. Turner has requested that he not be played in the OF. The current plan is for him to play 2B, and presumably SS in games where Seager is rested. Not that any of this is likely to make much difference. This team is like bad musical, it’s an expensive, star-studded flop.
Deleted_User
Turner is the shortstop
itstimefordodgersbaseball
Poor Jimmy. He figured it out this year in the bullpen after being hurt multiple seasons and was probably the team’s best reliever when he wasn’t on the IL. Now he probably won’t even pitch until 2023. At least we get to see Turner #2 in blue tonight though
birdsfan415
poor Nelson is having his career ravaged by injuries
Smacky
Dodgers seem to maybe be teaching something or not teaching something that’s causing their young pitchers to blow out their arms. The red headed dude, Urias last year and now Kershaw with a fore arm thing.
MannyPineappleExpress9
Nelson hasn’t been healthy for an extended period of time since he fubar-ed his shoulder on the bases way back with the Brewers.
I suspect at least 1 of the injuries since is related to that.
Bottom line is the dodgers took a chance in him knowing he was damaged goods. He didn’t suddenly start getting hurt after he got there.
Cap & Crunch
Yea Urias looked like he had a blown out arm last year indeed
Smacky
So it was a year prior. My bad. Dustin May, Tommy Kahnle, Caleb Ferguson, and Jimmy Nelson all getting Tommy John surgery is prob just a coincidence. You’ve also got Graterol and Kershaw with forearm tightness. Alexander is hurt along with Gonslin and Knebel was out forever. And then there’s Bauer and a broken down Jansen so yeah the Dodgers are really good at managing the health of their pitchers.
BeforeMcCourt
The majority of the players you listed had elbow problems before they came to LA, or they didn’t actually need surgery and just needed time off
Every single team is dealing with this. They’re no different from San Diego or any other competing team
MannyPineappleExpress9
Knebel’s issues also started in Milwaukee.
But yeah, both he and Nelson had no problems until they got to LA…
Rsox
More bad news for Jimmy Nelson. Too bad, hopefully he’ll be back in ’23
BobGibsonFan
Are the 2021 Dodgers the best team ever?
Deleted_User
LOL
Shrutefarm
The Nelson loss is huge. Hopefully, Knebel can come back and stay healthy.
mlbdodgerfan2015
Both seem like damaged goods. The Dodgers have gambled in the past with injury history players. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose.
frankiegxiii
A little off topic, but has anyone seen any recent footage of Cole Hamels throwing a bullpen or anything? I don’t have Instagram or Snapchat or anything like that.
UWPSUPERFAN77
Good luck Mr. Nelson! Fond memories as a Brewer!
Cap & Crunch
Another terrible uninspired loss –
1-11 in extras
Worst win % in 1 run games in the league
This is nowhere near championship level baseball. This team has the look of a winner pre-game they just don’t seem to want to do the dirty work to get there
I really wish they let Roberts manage a little more instead of just asking Siri what to do every time. They have swung too far on the pendulum imo and it’s just been masked the last couple years w superior talent. I know it will never happen but Ive been clamoring for Mike Sciosca as a clubhouse manager in some regards for awhile to help w the small things (No clue if he’d be interested ) but we need that extra tool in our tool box and this is where he belongs to end it after a storied career
amk1920
They are 30 games above 500 in games decided in regulation. Manfred ball is a stain on the sport and the only reason they don’t have the best record in baseball
Cap & Crunch
Same rules for both teams
The lack of adapting is a concern
The 1 run W~L Record is not a good sign for playoff baseball
I don’t doubt the talent but this isn’t good baseball we are seeing from the Blue Crew.
mlbdodgerfan2015
It’s the same attitude. Too much going for the home runs/big hits. They make too many unproductive outs. They don’t shoot the ball the other way enough to beat the shifts. Those are the small things that less talented teams do to win close games. This is why they stink at close games and extra innings. The new extra innings rules magnify this flaw but even in the regular extra inning format the Dodgers would still stink for same reasons. New format does save them bullpen arms as it does not prolong the game.
Shawnpe
Jimmy Nelson is the poster child for; “why the hell are pitchers hitting?”
This guy was one small step way from ace status with Milwaukee before he collided with a first baseman trying to beat out a ground ball while hitting. Ruined his shoulder and it could be argued the shoulder led to elbow problems.
Very sad. Give us the option for DH in the NL, this ridiculous “old timey” tradition has been outdated for nearly a century now.
Put real hitters at the plate. Please!?
mlbdodgerfan2015
Trea Turner making plays all over the field tonight at second base. This is why it’s great to have the best athletes. Between Trea, Betts, Bellinger and CT3 the Dodgers are well-represented in the athleticism department.