Kazmir's abdominal injury 'shouldn't be a problem going forward'
Scott Kazmir, who has been pitching with reduced velocity this spring, left Saturday's start with an abdominal injury. It "shouldn't be a problem going forward," however.
Another day, another Dodgers injury.
On Saturday, left-hander Scott Kazmir left his start after four innings and 70 pitches due to abdominal discomfort. He more or less refused to acknowledge the injury while speaking to reporters, and manager Dave Roberts indicated it was not a major concern.
From Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has spent much of his first spring on the job giving out medical updates. He said the trainers assured him Kazmir’s abdominal discomfort “shouldn’t be a problem going forward” and he is confident Kazmir will not need any down time.
“I am,” Roberts said. “Obviously tomorrow morning, we’ll know more. But I don’t see it being a problem.”
Roberts started to walk away before adding a touch of gallows humor – “Don’t hold me to that.”
Kazmir, 32, dealt with some major arm injuries earlier in his career, though he's been relatively healthy the last few seasons. That said, he has been pitching with reduced velocity this spring, sitting mostly 88-91 mph instead of his usual 91-93 mph.
Los Angeles came into the spring with impressive rotation depth, but they've been hard by injuries, and are already looking at Triple-A pitchers for their fifth starter's spot. Here's a quick look at the rotation depth chart as per the team's official site:
- Clayton Kershaw -- healthy and still the best pitcher on the planet
- Scott Kazmir -- velocity down this spring, now has abdominal injury
- Brett Anderson -- will miss most of 2016 following back surgery
- Kenta Maeda -- healthy, though elbow concerns led to discounted contract
- Hyun-Jin Ryu -- rehabbing from shoulder surgery
- Alex Wood -- missed one spring start with forearm tightness, but healthy now
- Mike Bolsinger -- will start the season on the DL with an oblique injury
- Carlos Frias -- in the mix for a rotation spot
- Zach Lee -- in the mix for a rotation spot
- Brandon McCarthy -- rehabbing from Tommy John surgery
- Brandon Beachy -- dealing with arm soreness
Having 11 starters is a good thing! Only three of them (Kershaw, Frias, Lee) have stayed completely healthy this spring, however. Well, we should include Maeda in there, but remember, he signed a smaller contract than expected this offseason because the Dodgers saw something they didn't like in his elbow.
Beyond the rotation, the Dodgers also lost Andre Ethier (broken leg) and Yasmani Grandal (forearm tightness) to injury, and neither will be ready to start the regular season. Justin Turner is coming off knee surgery, Yasiel Puig's hamstring is tight, and Howie Kendrick's calf is barking. On and on it goes.
This has been a rough spring for the Dodgers from an injury standpoint, and with each additional injury, the tougher it will be holding off the Giants and D-Backs in the NL West.
