DENVER -- If it seems that the Los Angeles Dodgers have set some kind of record with all their injuries, it is because they have.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers placed their 24th and 25th players on the disabled list this season, increasing their National League-record total. The 2012 Boston Red Sox put 27 players on the disabled list and hold the major league record. Record-keeping in this area is consistent for the past 30 seasons.
“This is why I’m very hesitant to say that it can’t get any worse,” said manager Dave Roberts, who has been greeted with these health woes in his first season as a big league skipper. “We just have to handle it and manage it, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The newcomers to the list are both relievers. Right-hander Louis Coleman has right-shoulder fatigue and left-hander Adam Liberatore has left-elbow inflammation.
The issues started early and often in spring training. The biggest blow back then was the fractured lower leg suffered by Andre Ethier on a foul ball. The outfielder still hasn’t played in a game and his return this season looks doubtful.
The biggest regular-season injury belongs to staff ace Clayton Kershaw, who was in the midst of a historic season after 16 starts but is going on more than five weeks of inactivity. Kershaw’s return date from a disk irritation in his back is still unknown.
The list includes four players no longer in the organization: Carl Crawford, Mike Bolsinger, Alex Guerrero and Frankie Montas. Hyun-Jin Ryu has been on the DL twice, with two separate injuries, and has made only one big league start this season. (Ryu, incidentally, counts only once against the Dodgers' DL tally.)
“To have to be in tune with the day-to-day [updates] when it comes to injuries, it’s the craziest thing I have ever seen,” Roberts said.
