Dodgers News: Alex Verdugo Not Expected Back for Two More Weeks
According to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, rookie outfielder Alex Verdugo will miss as many as two weeks with a strained oblique.
Alex Verdugo could be out two weeks with his oblique injury, Dave Roberts said.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) August 9, 2019
Losing Verdugo at all is a major loss to the Dodgers’ outfield defense in addition to the loss offensively.
With his absence, the Dodgers figure to be affording extra at-bats to utility player Kristopher Negrón — who has absolutely shown out in limited time — as well as Jedd Gyorko, Kiké Hernandez, and Chris Taylor upon their returns.
Although Verdugo seems to be out of the running for National League Rookie of the Year with the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mets’ Pete Alonso leading the pack, Dugie has still gotten the job done this season.
Over the month prior to his injury, Verdugo’s production had seen a fairly steep decline. His walk rate dipped to 5.6% and his strikeout rate jumped to 22.5%. Those are not numbers you ideally want to see out of one of your main lineup fixtures. Outside of the walk and strikeout rates, Verdugo has posted a fairly weak .749 OPS and 97 wRC+ since the Fourth of July.
Regardless, Verdugo has been invaluable across the three outfield spots, accruing 14 defensive runs saved. At the plate, he is no slouch, posting a 114 wRC+ and .294/.342/.475 slash line in 106 games.
Hitting is incredibly difficult. Hitting while injured is almost impossible. I think Verdugo was attempting to play with the back issue because he is a rookie and wants playing time and to prove he is a tough guy.
Problem is the stats show you are not as effective.
The Dodgers are playing two scrubs in Negron and White to take the place of injured players. They have played OK but they are not going to produce at crucial moments.
The Dodgers need to get Home Field advantage. Why not bring up Lux and see how he plays as Taylor and Kike are out?
Lux is touted as the 2nd baseman or SS if Seager is moved to third for the future. Why not try him out now like they did with Smith. Lux is destroying AAA League pitching.
On Verdugo. How many times have I said players will try to hide their pain, the injury just to keep playing more. They disregard what the team rules are (basically lying). The coaches and any other staff members should have their eyes open for signs of fatigue and or injury a player may have, at that time the player should find to remedy the situation.