The Los Angeles Dodgers have been hit hard by the injury bug this season, especially in the bullpen. It has led to them surrendering a nine-game lead in the National League West to the rival San Diego Padres.
Now, Los Angeles is entering a crucial stretch of their 2025 season, and while they have been getting healthier, Tanner Scott, Michael Kopech, and Kirby Yates are on the Injured List, and new face Brock Stewart also landed on the IL recently. On Thursday, officials released an update on flamethrower Brusdar Graterol, who has not pitched this season.
Dodgers Likely Won’t Have Brusdar Graterol
Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times reported on August 14 that Brusdar Graterol has only a slim chance of pitching this season, adding to another wave of bad injury news.
Graterol underwent shoulder surgery last November but has not done any baseball activities since. He has not pitched since injuring himself in last season’s playoffs. It’s been a troubling couple of years for Graterol, who had an excellent 2023 season before recording just seven appearances last season and now potentially zero this season. In 2023, he had a 1.20 ERA in 67.1 innings and had been a staple setup man for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early 2020s.
The Dodgers have been without Graterol for the entirety of this season, so it’s not like they are missing out on something they already had; it’s just a microcosm of how the injuries have piled up. Michael Kopech will start a rehab assignment this week, while Tanner Scott has been out since late July. Both relievers are imperative for Los Angeles to have down the stretch.
Brusdar Graterol’s Dominance Before 2024
As noted, Graterol was one of the fireball arms for the Dodgers from 2020 to 2023 after they acquired him via trade with the Minnesota Twins for Kenta Maeda.
MLBTradeRumors’s Steve Adams was on the news:
“From 2020-23, Graterol pitched 173 2/3 innings of 2.69 ERA ball for the Dodgers. Heâs never missed bats the way one might expect from a pitcher who sits 99 mph with his sinker and regularly ramps it up into triple-digit territory, but the big righty is also one of the sportâs premier ground-ball pitchers. During that 2020-23 peak, he fanned just 18.9% of his opponents but also turned in a terrific 5.5% walk rate and an elite 62.5% ground-ball rate. Strong as the results were in that time, Graterol was also on the injured list five different times for elbow or shoulder troubles with the Dodgers before finally undergoing surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder. He pitched just 7 1/3 innings last year and seemingly wonât get back on the mound in 2025.”
As for the here and now, the Dodgers have a huge three-game set with the San Diego Padres this weekend, who have overtaken them in the NL West, and Los Angeles plays their bitter rival from down south six out of the next 10 days. If the Dodgers want to win another division crown, they must figure out the pitching quickly.
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