Dodgers: Dave Roberts Reveals When Jimmy Nelson Injured His Elbow
If there’s anyone within the Dodgers organization who unequivocally laments when the team loses a player due to injury, it’s manager Dave Roberts.
Los Angeles suffered a blow in their bullpen this week as it was announced on Saturday that right-hander Jimmy Nelson will undergo season ending Tommy John surgery to repair a flexor tendon in his throwing arm.
“It’s obviously very difficult for him,” Roberts said.
It was revealed by Roberts that Nelson was preparing to enter the game in relief against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 30 when he began to feel the discomfort.
“A few days ago we had him up and getting ready to come in the game,” Roberts said. “That’s when he just felt something and we had to shut him down.”
While the estimated recovery time for Nelson still has him on track to possibly return in 2022, it will be incumbent upon the rest of the pitching staff to make up for the absence of one of the better relief pitchers in the game this year.
The 32-year-old reliever ranked 14th in ERA with a 1.86 and 10th in strikeout rate at 37.9 percent among 457 qualified pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings this season.
Roberts expressed the deep sadness that he and the rest of the organization have for Nelson, an individual who contributed tremendously to a bullpen that has had many peaks and valleys throughout the year.
“We feel very bad for him because he’s been a big part of this.”
Nelson is a free agent after the season.
NEXT: LHP Garrett Cleavinger Lands on the Injured List
As a former pitcher who blew out both elbow and shoulder, I can relate to the misery that Nelson is going through… although I was before the advanced medical procedures that give hope for recovery and continuation of careers. The Dodgers will re-sign Jimmy and insure His TJ surgery and recovery are done by the best in the business. Good luck Jimmy!
I’ve always liked Jimmy Nelson. He dominated the Dodgers as a SP’er before his injury in 2017 and after a slow start this year had pitched really well out of the pen.
However, we all knew that Friedman’s gamble on shoring up the pen with veteran reclamation projects could blow up and it has.
Nelson is out for the season, Knebel has been out for months (he’s about to come back) and even Price had the early season hamstring injury and was somewhat inconsistent out of the pen.
The Dodgers letting go of Jake McGee (N.L. reliever of the month in July for the Giants) and Dylan Floro, who has done solid work for Miami, has really bitten the team, especially with the issues with Gonzalez and Graterol and others.
Friedman gambled during the offseason picking up injury prone players for the bull pen. It’s been haunting this team all season..