Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Spring Training: Greinke Shut Down After Injection In Elbow

Zack Greinke 2

UPDATE (Feb. 22, 8:45 a.m. PT:: According to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com, Zack Greinke will play catch three days after receiving a lubricating injection in his right elbow and being shut down:



[divide]

One day after reporting for Spring Training, Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers and catchers were broken into groups to throw a bullpen session with Friday’s workout including Brett Anderson, Clayton Kershaw and Brandon McCarthy, among others.

For the pitchers who didn’t throw Friday, including Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu, their session was scheduled for Saturday morning. While that held true for the remaining pitchers in camp, Greinke isn’t included in the group as he received a lubricating injection in his right elbow, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:

According to Eric Stephen of True Blue LA, the injection was a planned procedure and manager Don Mattingly indicated it’s par for course:

Greinke battled an elbow issue in his first Spring Training with the Dodgers and last year suffered a calf strain after landing awkwardly in the first inning of his Feb. 27 start. In both instances, he recovered in time for the beginning of the regular season.

Last August, there was some concern over an issue in Greinke’s right elbow that led to the club scratching his bullpen session between starts and he had a scheduled start pushed back.

The added rest apparently was enough for Greinke as he closed out the the year 5-0 with a 2.60 ERA in his final seven starts of the regular season. Greinke’s health will certainly be something to monitor this year as he holds an opt-out clause, which he said he won’t make a decision on until after the 2015 season.

Should he continue to battle elbow troubles, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he elected to opt-in and take the remaining $77 million over three years rather than risk signing a new contract that may not be as lucrative as he once believed was possible because of the health concern.

[divide]

Zack Greinke Isn’t Sure If The Dodgers Improved During The Offseason


Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

3 Comments

  1. We now have to pray to the Baseball gods for the health of McCarthy, Anderson, Ryu and Grienke. Starting a very long grind it out season with a fragile pitching staff and not much ready on the Farm is a rather scarey way to start. I am hoping they at least try Lee, Reed etc before they start trying to find scrubs to start like last year.

  2. Pitchers are all always just a pitch away from an issue that changes everything for them. Attrition rates are and always have been what separates the men from the boys. Major league pitchers are not normal human beings but even their arms can stand just so much. (Unless they’re named Nolan Ryan)

  3. Trying to find scrubs?? All winter long they have been signing guys to fill in when needed. Bedard, Nicasio, Huff now Beachy. Low risk guys that will fill in when needed. And as the Mattingly said Greinke has had the same procedure all 3 springs with the Dodgers. His first 2 years have gone pretty well.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button