Turner is unlikely to go on IL
CINCINNATI — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he doesn’t believe Justin Turner will need to go on the 10-day injured list after fouling a ball off his left shin in the Dodgers’ victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
As expected, Turner wasn’t in the Dodgers lineup Saturday, but the third baseman pinch-hit in the ninth inning. Turner likely won’t start Sunday, giving him three days to recuperate with Monday’s day off. The Dodgers open a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.
“To give him two, three days potentially to get ready for Tuesday, it’s certainly a thought,” Roberts said. “But I think I’m going to let the training staff and Justin decide that.”
Turner fouled a pitch just above an ankle guard in the third inning Friday. He completed the at-bat and played the field the next two innings before exiting in the fifth because of a bruise. X-rays were negative, but Turner said the shin swelled up “huge.” Roberts said the swelling had subsided Saturday.
“It looked like a baseball was coming out of my shin,” Turner said.
That ricochet was the latest ball Turner’s body has absorbed during the week. He was plunked in four consecutive games before Friday, becoming the first Dodger to be hit by a pitch in four games in a row since Hughie Jennings in 1900. Jennings holds the major league record with 287 hit-bypitches and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1945.
“Justin stands on the plate and that’s part of the risk when you’re on the plate,” Roberts said. “I think this ball off the shin yesterday, self-induced, is worse than all those other four hitby-pitches. We’re going to manage it, but he takes such good care of himself. I’m not worried about it.”
The Dodgers’ days off — they also won’t play Thursday — and five-man bench give the club cushion to practice caution with Turner while not hurting them on the field. The team called up outfielder Kyle Garlick and infielder Matt Beaty, and put starter Kenta Maeda on the IL Friday to afford themselves an extra position player.
Beaty is a left-handed hitter so he got the start at first base Saturday against Reds right-hander Tyler Mahle with Max Muncy playing third. He had one hit in four at-bats.
Beaty, 26, will start Sunday against right-hander Tanner Roark if Turner doesn’t start. Beaty is back in the majors for the second time this season. He is three for eight with the Dodgers and was batting .299 with an .847 on-base-plus-slugging percentage with triple-A Oklahoma City.
Puig continues to struggle
Yasiel Puig singled twice in the Reds’ victory Saturday and he has seven home runs, but the former Dodger right fielder has only four other extra-base hits and is batting .210 with a .621 OPS.
On Friday, he struck three times on 10 pitches, dropping his batting average to .203.
Matt Kemp, the other outfielder the Reds acquired from the Dodgers in a multiplayer trade in December, was released this month and left-hander Alex Wood hasn’t pitched because of a back injury.
The most productive player the Dodgers sent to Cincinnati has been utilityman Kyle Farmer, who began Saturday’s game batting .232 with five home runs and an .814 OPS and has played several positions.