Los Angeles Times

Urias’ return is uncertain

- By Andy McCullough andy.mccullough@latimes.com

CLEVELAND — An examinatio­n of Julio Urias’ sore left shoulder showed no structural damage, but the Dodgers have shut down Urias to allow time for the inflammati­on in the joint to subside.

Manager Dave Roberts indicated there was no timetable for Urias’ resumption of a throwing program and said that the pitcher will not engage in baseball activity “for the foreseeabl­e future.”

“I don’t know if we’ve made the decision yet on if it’s a week, if it’s two weeks when he’s going to pick up a baseball,” Roberts said before Thursday’s series finale against the Cleveland Indians at Progressiv­e Field. “Right now, I don’t think we have an answer.”

The Dodgers had hoped Urias would sharpen his delivery during a stint with triple-A Oklahoma City. But Urias reported an issue with his shoulder this week. When his condition did not improve with a few days of rest, he had an MRI exam.

Urias had hoped to break camp as a member of the starting rotation. The Dodgers paused his preseason schedule to preserve his innings for later in the season. Roberts said he did not believe the team’s approach contribute­d to Urias’ injury.

“No. 1, obviously, I know it’s not the workload,” Roberts said. “As far as how we’ve managed him, I don’t think [it caused the injury]. Because the starts that he made down there, he was throwing the ball well. He has been on a consistent routine.”

Gonzalez update

The second opinion on Adrian Gonzalez’s lower back matched the first, Roberts said. Gonzalez has a herniated disk and may take a painkillin­g epidural injection to ease his discomfort.

Gonzalez received an epidural last season and played through it. “I don’t know a timetable, when he’ll be back,” Roberts said. “Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Even so, the Dodgers do not want to rush Gonzalez back. He has shown little power this season, and has landed on the disabled list twice. In the first 13 seasons of his career, he never went on the disabled list.

Short hops

Dodgers minor league pitcher Jair Jurrjens was suspended 80 games after testing positive for exogenous testostero­ne. Jurrjens, 31, was pitching for triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers optioned reliever Ross Stripling to Oklahoma City after he gave up four runs in 12⁄3 innings in Thursday’s loss to Cleveland.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States