SerpApi.Org
PHILADELPHIA –– It remains unclear exactly how aggressive the Dodgers will be ahead of MLB’s Aug. 3 trade deadline.
But next week, the team is expecting to get a couple key internal reinforcements back from injury.
Closer Edwin Díaz is on track to be activated next Tuesday, when the Dodgers return home from their current nine-game, East Coast road trip. The $69 million offseason signing has been out since April, when he underwent a surgical procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow. However, he is set to follow up his latest rehab outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday afternoon with two more minor-league outings on Thursday and Sunday. After that, he should be ready to return for Tuesday’s series-opener against the Mariners.
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“We feel very confident right now if he continues to trend the way he has, the back-to-back to check that box, to then go Sunday, we feel like he’d be in a good spot,” Roberts said of Díaz, who had an ERA over 10.00 while battling his elbow injury earlier this year.
Utilityman Kiké Hernández is also nearing the end of his recovery process from an oblique strain, which sidelined him in May just two games into a return from offseason elbow surgery.
Hernández began his own rehab stint in OKC at the start of this week, and is also on track to return during the Dodgers’ upcoming homestand –– though it remains unclear if he will be ready to be activated as soon as Díaz.
“He’s in a good spot,” Roberts said. “So Tuesday could probably make sense. I just don’t know for certain.”
The returns of Díaz and Hernández will represent a mid-season boost to the Dodgers, who have gone closer-by-committee without Díaz (Tanner Scott has gotten the most save opportunities in his stead) and have missed Hernández’s defensive versatility and veteran bat (Alex Freeland has effectively served in that role off the bench).
As long as they perform as hoped, the Dodgers will likely not have any deadline needs in the bullpen or their lineup.
Their rotation, however, remains another question, with the club still waiting to see how soon Shohei Ohtani (who threw a bullpen session Wednesday as part of his recovery from a knee injury), Blake Snell (who had his own loose-body removal in May but is also on a minor-league rehab assignment in OKC right now) and Tyler Glasnow (who has yet to face hitters since suffering a back injury) will be able to return.
