Dave Roberts Gives Updates On Injuries and Roster Moves
Every time Dave Roberts walks out to the main meeting area outside of the Dodgers’ locker rooms at Camelback Ranch, you can bet there will be a crowd. But it’s not a crowd of fans or players, but rather a crowd of reporters. These days, Roberts seems to be fielding plenty of the same questions. And with that in mind, he came ready to answer every one of those questions on Wednesday afternoon.
Kershaw, Seager, and Martin’s Status Still Unknown
One of the single biggest question marks around Spring camp is when Clayton Kershaw will be ready to go. He was shut down a few weeks ago after trying to ramp up his bullpen and has barely thrown since then. Roberts failed to answer any more questions we have about him though, just updating us on his throwing program.
Clayton Kershaw will continue throwing today. No date set to throw off a mound.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 6, 2019
With Kershaw’s status already in trouble, Corey Seager is the next logical player to inquire about. Roberts was thankfully able to offer some insight into why Seager was out of camp today. It had nothing to do with his surgically repaired elbow or hip, so we can all breathe easy.
Corey Seager is out today ill. Elbow and hip still fine.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 6, 2019
Finally, we get to Russell Martin. The veteran backstop was shut down over the weekend with plans to get him into a game as a DH on Monday. That never happened as Martin’s back tightened up once again. Martin is still day-to-day with his back issue but was healthy enough to catch a bullpen on Wednesday. The Dodgers remain hopeful that he will be ready in time to start the season.
Walker Buehler threw a bullpen today. Russell Martin caught it. #DodgersST
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) March 6, 2019
With all of that being said, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the health of the team. Kershaw, Martin, and Seager are all integral parts of what makes this club so great. They will certainly play a role in the success of the franchise heading into the 2019 season, so having them healthy is vital.
Most interestingly, we finally have an idea of when cuts will be made from the big league camp. The Dodgers kicked off the year with twenty-one non-roster invitees, and most of those guys will be reassigned to minor league camp in the coming weeks. Dave Roberts will have to cut the roster down to just 25 men when they kick off the season in Los Angeles in late March.
BASEBALL AMERICA HAS BOLD PREDICTIONS FOR THE DODGERS
As noted in other articles no need to rush Kershaw, Dodgers have a surplus of good young arms to start games. With Barnes as the primary no need to rush Martin either as Smith looks very good defensively and could play until he gets his back straightened out…
Seager is a must to play a majority of the year if they want to be competitive although to start Taylor or Kike could cover.
This team is so deep and has such a great Farm System it can be cautious in bringing back its injured players to play when they are injury free…
I totally agree!
Hi tx!!! You are certainly correct in saying that we have great team depth. The one thing that concerns me about Kersh, is there has been no mention of the team getting an MRI on him. Unless this was done, and the team is not saying anything concerning the results, I do wonder about the extent of his arm/shoulder issues. Go Blue!!!
Lou an MRI was done on his shoulder before they extended his contract. They were as concerned as anyone on the wear and tear on Kershaws shoulder due to the amount of innings he has thrown. There has not been any issue after that except shoulder soreness to warrant another MRI.
As I have stated on other blogs my daughter is a PT and works on Olympic athletes and other sports people. She hears that they do not believe there is an acute shoulder injury. You never know for sure but as they looked at the shoulder before the contract extension and the PT’s and Docs are evaluating him they must believe his injury is not season or career ending.
As you would figure my daughter says the Dodgers have a top medical support team…
This team has so many frail individuals that never seem to make it through a season. I guess that is because that is the main type that Friedman goes after. If you have had surgery of any type, Andrew will find you. The guy is brilliantly incompetent. Ugh!
Friedman did not go after or find Kershaw or Seager. I believe I know who is incompetent. Maybe you feel the Dodgers should not have extended Kershaw’s contdact since he is injury prone.
Ha! Two World Series appearances and the GM/President is incompetent? If only us Dodgers fans could have been so lucky to have such an incompetent GM for the last 30 years. The dude has a proven track record. He made the freakin RAYS competitive for crying out loud. Quit whining and enjoy this stretch of Dodgers baseball where we pretty much expect to win on a daily/nightly basis. It wasn’t too long ago that we were stuck in mediocrity year after year.
I agree, so many fans dont really appreciate what Friedman and Roberts have done back to back WS runs after 30 years of falling flat, yes we lost and could it have been managed better…Yes!, but the ride was awesome and the experience our young guygained should help when we get back to the WS everyone needs to stop whinning and apperciate the product Friedman puts on the field just bc it’s not the players you wished for doesnt make him bad, maybe thats why you dont work in that position and he does.
Nate and Charles completely agree with both of you….
I totally disagree!
This was a typo
I believe Barnes wants to be the starting catcher and he’s showing why with his current .333 BA and should he keep this up, no reason in the world to rush Martin back. If Barnes continues to earn it, he should get the starting nod, no questions about that one.
Paul I agree as I have stated on this blog I did not believe the Dodgers needed Realmuto because of Barnes and their amazing Farm Team Depth. I am a bi Barnes fan he is a top 5 defensive and framing catcher and has hit well every year but last year. 207 he had numbers that matched Realmuto and in the Minors he always hit well. Sometimes guys get in bad habits and especially with the Catching job working on pitch selection, the pitching coach and the pitchers I doubt there is a lot of time to work on your swing…