Justin Turner, third baseman, of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been sidelined with a broken wrist. Turner was hit by a pitch, facing Kendall Graveman of the Oakland Athletics in the first inning of Monday’s 3-1 victory. Dodgers General Manager Farhan Zaidi discussed Turner’s injury saying that they have no timetable for a return and that Turner will revisit the doctor on Tuesday.
Following comes from Bill Shaikin of the LA Times.
The Dodgers will open the defense of their National League championship with the leader of their offense on the disabled list.
Justin Turner suffered a broken left wrist when he was hit by a pitch in Monday’s Cactus League game against the Oakland Athletics. The Dodgers said they did not expect to have a timetable for their third baseman’s return until he visits a doctor Tuesday, but manager Dave Roberts said “weeks are involved.”
Said Turner: “There’s a lot of good baseball players in here. I don’t think we’ll miss a beat.”
It appears unlikely Turner could return before May.
The 2017 National League Champion Dodgers were impacted greatly in the playoffs by the slugger’s presence in the lineup with him batting .462 in the divisional round and .333 in the championship round. It seems that Turner will most likely miss the start of the 2018 season and possibly not see the field until May. The Dodgers are now down without their slugger, they will look to see a better output from their prized young talent in Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager.
When Turner was asked about the situation he kept it short and simple, “I was hoping obviously the X-rays would be negative, but there’s a small non-displaced fracture, we’ll just play it by ear, see how it goes.” Turner is going to revisit the doctor on Tuesday to hopefully get a timetable for his return.
