Ethier said than Done: Dodgers Spring Training woes Continue

The Dodgers are showing that some teams don’t have to make it all the way into the middle of the season to have their roster depth tested. The Dodgers suffered another injury to a big-name on the team on Friday, when Andre Ethier fractured his right tibia when he fouled a ball off of it.

This preseason has been an absolute disaster, injury-wise, for the Dodgers. Last year, the Dodgers made it to the postseason with a 92-70 record before falling to the eventual National League champs, New York Mets, in the divisional round. Currently, Los Angeles is riding a 7-game losing streak to sit at 10-10 in spring 2016.

Ethier is just one of the many injuries the Dodgers have sustained to this point. Ethier is entering his 11th year in the MLB, all with the Dodgers, with whom he has hit .286 with 159 home runs and 682 RBI in his career.  He hit .294 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI last season to help the Dodgers on their postseason run.

Clayton Kershaw gave Dodgers fans a scare this Friday when he got into a car crash in Arizona (with two Angels fans no doubt). But that didn’t stop him from taking the chance to grab some selfies. Photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com

Along with Ethier, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw gave every Dodger fan a heart attack on Friday when he was involved in a car collision on Friday in Phoenix. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in the crash, but Kershaw then took a foul ball off the leg on Sunday. It seems that neither of these have presented serious injuries to the Dodgers ace, but has found a way to keep things interesting for Dodgers fans despite seven straight losses. Kershaw went 16-7 with a 2.43 ERA in 33 starts for the Dodgers last season. He has been a staple in LA since his arrival in 2008, putting up sub-3.00 ERA seasons in every year after his rookie season.

Kershaw’s friend in the rotation, Brett Anderson, was not so lucky this preseason.  Anderson will miss the first three to five weeks of the season with back issues. Anderson is entering his second year with the Dodgers, after pitching a number of seasons with Oakland. Anderson went 10-9 with a 3.69 ERA in 31 starts with LA last season.

Not only have the Dodgers faced a number of new injuries over the course of Spring Training, they also have a number of players that are recovering from off-season procedures of injuries. On the offensive side of things, Adrian Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick, Yasmani Grandal, Enrique Hernandez, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, and Scott Van Slyke are all coming off of some form of injury or procedure coming into 2016. While the majority of them should be alright, it should be noted that some of these players aren’t as young as they used to be, and these procedures and injuries may have a lasting impact on how much longer they can remain healthy, not only this season, but for the rest of their careers. Gonzalez in particular will be 34 this May. Grandal is still expected to start on Thursday’s game, according to manager Dave Roberts, but is still undergoing tests concerning forearm soreness experienced in last week’s match-up.

The pitching staff woes don’t stop at Anderson and Kershaw, either. Alex Wood, Brandon Beachy, and Hyun-Jin Ryu are all coming off of off-season work as well. Ryu should be expected to see work in late May to early June, after his recovery regimen was pushed back slightly this spring.

The positive to all of this is, the Dodgers had been stockpiling depth all off-season, so this will not impact them as hard initially. Come June, when most of this roster should be back together, the Dodgers should have at least a semblance of understanding as to how this season will go. Right now, it’s hard to say if this depth stockpile will be enough to get this Dodgers team into the mid-season with a fighting chance, but I think it would be foolhardy to cross them out this early on, especially so long as their ace Kershaw and young stud Yasiel Puig remain healthy.