Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Kemp Out For Toronto Series, Maybe Even More

As many Sons and SoSG readers have pointed out, Don Mattingly isn't the best at estimating when a player would be returning from injury. But as of last night, the Dodgers were hoping Matt Kemp was only lost for three games:

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp is expected to miss the three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays after spraining his left ankle.

Out of the lineup for 11 games with a sore left shoulder, Kemp came off the 15-day disabled list before Sunday's 9-2 win over the Washington Nationals. He went 3-for-4 with a home run, but limped off the field after sliding into home plate on a force play in the ninth inning.

Kemp is expected to have X-rays on Monday night, but the team believes he does not have either a fracture or ligament damage.

Manager Don Mattingly said Monday he was less optimistic that Kemp would avoid a return to the DL. He said the team hoped to have a clearer picture of Kemp's status Tuesday.

"I'm probably not feeling as good about it as I did yesterday," Mattingly said. "It could go the wrong direction. Either this thing's going to get [better] and we'll know pretty quickly or it's going to be a little more severe."

Mattingly said Kemp came to the stadium at noon Monday and spent the afternoon undergoing treatment. He was expected to do the same Tuesday.

MLB.com's Ken Gurnick was much more pessimistic, saying a trip to the DL for Kemp wouldn't be out of the question:

X-rays on Matt Kemp's sprained left ankle were negative Monday night, but he left the clubhouse wearing an immobilizing boot and seems headed back to the disabled list.

Manager Don Mattingly said Kemp would likely miss the three-game series with the Blue Jays. He added that a decision on whether Kemp would need to be disabled would probably be made Tuesday.

But Mattingly added that he was less confident on Monday that Kemp would avoid a return to the disabled list than he was Sunday after Kemp injured the ankle with an awkward slide into home plate in the ninth inning of the Dodgers' 9-2 win in Washington.

Yikes. I'd almost rather do the DL for Kemp now, while the rest of the team is rolling, then have him struggle for a week or so while it starts healing, risking further injury. We need you strong, Kemp. Take your time!

1 comments:

Hideo Nomo said...

Sorry, Canadian Kemp fans!