Dodgers Double Whammy as Yamamoto and Betts Land on Injured List

The Dodgers took two out of three from the Royals this weekend in Los Angeles, but they suffered a pair of losses that can’t help but prove costly, as injuries felled two of the game’s best players. On Saturday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto left his start after just two innings due to what was initially described as triceps tightness but was later diagnosed as a rotator cuff strain. On Sunday, Mookie Betts suffered a fracture after being hit on the left hand by a 98-mph fastball. Neither injury is season-ending, but both players figure to be out for several weeks.

Yamamoto’s problems are traceable to his June 7 start against the Yankees. He was brilliant in that outing, shutting out the Bronx Bombers on two hits and two walks while striking out seven in a game that remained scoreless until the 11th inning, when Teoscar Hernández’s two-run double proved decisive. Perhaps owing to the adrenaline that comes with pitching in a playoff-like atmosphere, the 25-year-old righty’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.0 mph that night, 1.5 mph above his average in his first season since coming over from Japan after signing a 12-year, $325 million deal last December. He threw his 17 fastest four-seamers and eight fastest sliders while throwing a season-high 106 pitches; it was his fourth straight outing of at least 100 pitches after topping out at 99 in his first nine turns.

Because Yamamoto experienced soreness in his triceps in the wake of that start, the Dodgers pushed back his next outing from Thursday to Saturday; instead, he threw a bullpen on Thursday but did not experience any additional soreness. On Saturday, he did experience some discomfort while warming up, but “it was not that serious at that point,” as he later said through a translator according to the Los Angeles Times‘ Mike DiGiovanna. He told pitching coach Mark Prior after his warmup, “I don’t feel 100%. I don’t feel frisky, but I feel fine.”

“Then, as I was pitching [in the game], it started [to get worse],” Yamamoto explained.

Yamamoto threw two scoreless innings while allowing one hit and one walk over the course of 28 pitches. His four-seamer averaged just 94.1 mph, 1.4 mph below his seasonal average and 2.9 mph below his previous start. After the second inning, SportsNet LA showed Prior, Roberts, and team trainers suddenly stirring in the Dodgers’ dugout en route to a meeting in the tunnel. Righty Michael Grove quickly warmed up and took over in the third inning; the Dodgers announced Yamamoto left the game due to triceps tightness. He underwent an MRI on Sunday and was diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain. There’s no timetable yet for his return. “It’s gonna take some time, but it’s not season-ending,” said Roberts. “It’s one of those things where he’s not going to throw for a couple of weeks, and then we’ll kind of see where we go from there.”

Despite getting rocked for five runs in his one-inning debut against the Padres in South Korea on March 21, Yamamoto has pitched well in his rookie season. He entered Sunday ranked fourth in the NL in FIP (2.61) and strikeout-walk differential (22.3%), sixth in ERA (2.92) and strikeout rate (27.9%), and seventh in WAR (2.1). That’s not a performance that will be easy to replace, but the Dodgers do have help on the way. Bobby Miller, who last pitched for the team on April 10 before being sidelined by shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to start against the Rockies on Wednesday. After a rookie season in which he posted a 3.76 ERA and 3.51 FIP in 124.1 innings, the 25-year-old righty appeared ready for even bigger things when he struck out 11 in six shutout innings against the Cardinals on March 29, but he didn’t make it out of the second inning in his next start against the Cubs on April 5. Five days later, he lasted just four innings against the Twins before being sidelined.

Meanwhile, after throwing a three-inning simulated game at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, Clayton Kershaw will head out to begin a rehab assignment at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday. The 36-year-old lefty hasn’t pitched since undergoing surgery last November to repair the glenohumeral ligaments and capsule of his left shoulder. He posted a 2.46 ERA and 4.03 FIP in 131.2 innings last year, making his 10th All-Star team but missing most of the second half due to shoulder soreness, and failing to make it out of the first inning in a disastrous Division Series start against the Diamondbacks. When he re-signed with the Dodgers in early February, the general assumption was that he’d return in the second half of the season, so he’s considered to be ahead of schedule.

The Dodgers had entertained the notion that they could go to a six-man rotation that would include Yamamoto, Miller, Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, James Paxton, and Walker Buehler, but such surpluses have a way of dissipating before they’ve fully materialized, proof positive that you can never have too much pitching. Said Roberts, “Part of constructing the roster is getting an abundance of starting pitching… Everywhere in baseball, guys go down at different times, and you’ve got to be able to backfill. To know we’re getting Bobby back and Clayton is starting a rehab assignment [this week] is certainly helpful.”

Saturday also cost the Dodgers the services of Grove, who suffered an intercostal strain and landed on the 15-day IL. The 27-year-old righty has made two spot starts and 26 relief appearances, pitching to a 5.06 ERA and 3.14 FIP in 37.1 innings. The Dodgers filled the two roster spots by recalling a pair of 31-year-old righty relievers, J.P. Feyereisen and Michael Petersen, from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Feyereisen has 92 games of major league experience including nine this season, with a 6.00 ERA, 4.81 FIP, and 21.1% strikeout rate in nine innings for the Dodgers. Petersen, who was born in London to an American father and Nigerian mother, and who lost the better part of three seasons to COVID-19, Tommy John surgery, and other injuries, has never pitched in the majors but has posted a 1.61 ERA, 2.59 FIP, and 36.9% strikeout rate in 22.1 innings at OKC. His four-seam fastball has averaged 97.9 mph and topped out at 100.7 mph while holding batters to a .157 wOBA. The pitch has generated a 25.6% whiff rate while his cutter has generated a 37.5% whiff rate. He could be an interesting addition.

As for Betts, in the bottom of the seventh inning of Sunday’s game, he was drilled in the left hand by a 98-mph fastball from Royals righty Dan Altavilla, a 31-year-old journeyman making just his third appearance of the season. Betts hit the dirt immediately and writhed on the ground in obvious pain for a few minutes before walking off the field. He was replaced by pinch-runner Miguel Rojas, who took over at shortstop.

The Dodgers announced after the game that Betts had suffered a fracture (“I think it was the metacarpal,” said Roberts) but would not need surgery. There’s no timetable for his return. “It’s just going to be rest and let the bones heal,” added the manager. Per Baseball Prospectus’ Craig Goldstein, hitters in the site’s Recovery Dashboard database with similar fractures have averaged 53 missed days, which would put Betts’ return in early August.

It’s fair to wonder whether the 31-year-old Betts will still be the Dodgers’ shortstop when he returns. Last year, he split his time beween right field (77 starts), second base (62 starts) and short (12 starts) in the wake of Gavin Lux’s season-ending ACL tear, and turned in an MVP-caliber season; he ultimately finished second in the voting behind Ronald Acuña Jr. The Dodgers planned for Betts to be a full-time second baseman this year, with Lux at shortstop, but when the latter struggled defensively, the Dodgers swapped the two players’ positions. Betts, who had just 112 inning of minor league experience at shortstop circa 2011-12 before last year’s 98 innings in the majors, has worked hard to acclimate to the position, though his defensive metrics have been a mixed bag (-4 FRV, -3.6 UZR, 3 DRS). With Lux struggling at the plate (.212/.262/.280, 58 wRC+), and with other in-house alternatives for the keystone such as Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernández failing to distinguish themselves, the Dodgers figure to be in the market for a middle infielder ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. The acquisition of a shortstop would presumably bump Betts back to second and Lux into a reduced role.

Even with subpar defensive metrics, Betts has played so well that his 3.5 WAR leads the NL. He’s hitting .304/.405/.488 with 10 home runs, ranking second in the league in on-base percentage and fourth with a 159 wRC+. That said, he hasn’t hit for much power since his torrid April:

A look at his Statcast numbers shows that Betts’ barrel rate is less than half what it was last year:

In fact, both Betts’ barrel and hard-hit rates are his lowest since 2017. It’s fair to wonder whether he had been playing through a minor injury or had been worn down by the additional work he had been putting in to get up to speed at shortstop, though Betts and Roberts both shot down those theories recently. Said Betts on June 6, “This is the best I’ve felt since I was probably 21 or 22 years old. So that absolutely has no part. It’s just purely me.”

Said Roberts at the time, “I think the lazy, easy answer is [that his recent struggles are] because of his workload at shortstop.” The manager later noted that the simpler explanation is that Betts has been prone to slumps in the past and was just “missing some pitches” he would usually hammer.

A quick peek at Statcast’s new bat-tracking metrics shows that Betts has rarely been swinging for the fences. His average bat speed since May 1 is slightly faster than before (69.5 mph vs. 68.8 mph) but on either side of the split, his fast swing rate has only been around 11%. He had been squaring up balls with greater frequency since May 1 (38.9% vs. 37.5%, with the first of those rates ranking second only to Luis Arraez in that span), but his blast rate (the rate of squared-up balls on fast swings) has dropped from 15.6% to 10.7% within the same timeframe.

Regardless, Betts’ contact rate and plate discipline have still been enough to make for an above-average offensive contribution even in leaner times. That’s been handy with the Dodgers struggling to replace the production of injured third baseman Max Muncy and a banged-up, slumping Shohei Ohtani. Muncy has been out since May 16 due to a strained oblique; his fill-ins (mainly Enrique Hernández with bit contributions from Rojas, Taylor, and newcomer Cavan Biggio) have combined to “hit” .160/.233/.245 (42 wRC+) in his absence. Meanwhile, Ohtani hit just .206/.283/.392 (93 wRC+) in 114 PA from May 16, when an errant pickoff throw bruised his right hamstring, to Saturday. The day after Roberts cited a handful of trends that suggested he was emerging from his slump, he went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo homers, including a 451-footer, powering the Dodgers past the Royals.

In Betts’ absence, the Dodgers plan to use Rojas at shortstop, with Enrique Hernández occasionally filling in. The 35-year-old Rojas, who owns just an 83 wRC+ for his career, has hit a surprisingly robust .278/.328/.444 (122 wRC+) in 116 PA this year, though his Statcast numbers don’t support that; he’s produced an average exit velocity of just 85.6 mph and a 3% barrel rate, with his slugging percentage is 81 points ahead of his xSLG. The 32-year-old Hernández has hit just .203/.272/.308 for a 70 wRC+, his third straight season of dismal production; his Statcast numbers are a bit better, but a .358 xSLG isn’t much to write home about.

For as star-laden as the Dodgers may be, and for as much depth as they’ve cultivated, they can’t help but miss the presence of these two superstars. Their eight-game lead in the NL West, where no other team is above .500, does afford them some breathing room, but they’ve already been grinding for a month, going 15-13 since Muncy went down and Ohtani fell into his slump. Without Betts or Yamamoto, the next several weeks won’t get any easier.