Dodgers News: Justin Turner Has a Broken Wrist

Update: Justin Turner does indeed have a broken wrist. Confirmed by X-rays.

With under ten calendar days remaining until opening day, teams should be playing out the string of spring training games. A little tinkering here, some cuts to be made there, but mostly what you see is what you’ll get when the games begin to count. The greatest fear is some kind of injury that can render a team snakebitten from the start. The Dodgers experienced this Tuesday evening when Justin Turner was hit on his left hand by a Kendall Graveman pitch. The injury occurred in the third inning.

Immediate Details on the Injury:

Justin Turner just got drilled in his left hand & he’s on the ground in visible pain.

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) March 20, 2018

Turner is leaving the game. Pitch from A's Kendall Graveman appeared to catch him flush on the left wrist

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 20, 2018

And yes, he’s headed to get X-rays.

Justin Turner, hit on the left hand by a pitch in the first inning, has been taken for X-rays.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) March 20, 2018

We are past that point where spring training games are a fresh, tangible experience. I’m sitting here annoyed that the regulars are out there as they should be – getting their work in. I wish we could put guys like Turner, Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, and Clayton Kershaw in some bubble wrap and ship them back to Los Angeles. Let’s just allow the rest of the roster to fend for themselves the next ten days. But it doesn’t work that way.

The Dodgers are +550 odds to win the 2018 World Series at the time of this post. That leaves them second to only the Houston Astros at +500. If Turner is to miss significant time, those odds are sure to change a little bit and swing teams like the Cubs (+750) and the Nations (+900) upwards in the National league picture.

Turner has had an outstanding spring thus far, hitting .333 and setting the tone for the 2018 season with the first home run in the spring training opener.

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for the man with the red beard. Beyond his run producing ability, this is a player who serves as a leader in the clubhouse and is integral to the team’s chemistry. We will update this situation as more information becomes available.