Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Spring Training: League Expected To Be Out With Sore Shoulder

Vincent Samperio-Dodgers Nation
Vincent Samperio-Dodgers Nation

UPDATE (March 15, 2:55 p.m. PT): After it appeared Brandon League may have been on the mend earlier than initially anticipated, he in fact will be shut down for several days due to discomfort in his shoulder, reports Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

Dodgers reliever Brandon League experienced continued shoulder discomfort in a brief attempt to play catch Sunday and said he will be shut down from throwing for several additional days.



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UPDATE (March 14, 10:50 a.m. PT): While the initial report of Brandon League’s sore shoulder had him likely missing time, Eric Stephen of True Blue LA says League will throw on Sunday:

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Coming off a season in which their bullpen as a whole failed to meet expectations, the Los Angeles Dodgers stockpiled relief pitchers this spring. However, the group includes one notable omission in Kenley Jansen, who is expected to be out until at least the end of April after undergoing surgery on his left foot.

Of the in-house options to temporarily replace Jansen, Brandon League has the most experience as a closer. It was the role he held with the Seattle Mariners and eventually the Dodgers, before struggling and being unseated by Jansen.

League was scheduled to pitch in Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds — which ended in yet another tie — but was scratched due to a sore shoulder that’s expected to keep him out of workouts, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

League, scheduled to pitch in Friday night’s game, instead was scratched after coming up sore following a lengthy bullpen session Wednesday while working on mechanical flaws detected during a rocky outing against the Giants on Monday. League is likely to miss at least several days of workouts.

League’s spring got off to a good start as he needed just five pitches to get through a perfect inning, which included a strike out. However, just four days later, the right-hander got into a jam against the San Francisco Giants and was charged for five runs on three hits in just 0.1 of an inning.

Should League miss a considerable amount of time, it would present an opportunity for the likes of Chris Hatcher, Joel Peralta, or Sergio Santos, among others, to get more consideration from manager Don Mattingly for late-inning work come the regular season.

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Brandon League Discusses Improvement This Spring


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