The injury bug continues to hit the Dodgers this past week, with Matt Kemp going on the DL with a strained left hamstring and Juan Uribe also going down with a left wrist injury that seems to be nagging him from last season.
The result is a bunch of newcomers for LA. In place of Kemp, the Dodgers brought up leftfielder Jerry Sands, who in 2011 over 61 games in LA batted .253 with 4 HR and 26 RBI (he also struck out 55 times). In Uribe’s place came young Elian Herrera, a 27 year old rookie infielder who per Rotoworld, is hitting .358, including a .381 on-base percentage and nine stolen bases so far….but over the past three seasons, the kid has swiped at least 30 bases.
Of course, Kemp and Uribe join Juan Rivera and Jerry Hairston, Jr. on the DL.
This also creates issues at third base and center field for Don Mattingly, although center looks ok with Gwynn as a solid option with experience and Ethier also a likely play (Andre got the start tonight). Third base appears to be an even bigger Pandora’s Box than it was befor,e with the less than exciting options of Herrera, Justin Sellers and Adam Kennedy – none of which are hitting above .167 so far this year.
Now all the Dodgers have to do is find a way to survive the next two weeks and hopefully hang on to that six game lead in the NL West and hopefully the best record in baseball.
Update: I added the obligatory “celeb” shot of Jerry Sands with “The Voice” season 2 winner Jermaine Paul from before Saturday’s game.
Photo Credit: Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers