Justin Turner To Miss “A Few Days” With Groin Injury

Justin Turner left today’s game due to what the Dodgers described as left groin discomfort, and manager Dave Roberts said the third baseman will have to miss at least a brief amount of time.  Turner will “be down for a few days and then we’ll re-evaluate,” Roberts told Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register and other reporters.

In the top of the second inning, Turner made an impressive play to get to a grounder and then throw out Jose Iglesias at first base.  Turner picked up his injury on this play, though he remained in the game to finish the inning before being replaced by pinch-hitter Albert Pujols (who homered) in the bottom half of the frame.

Los Angeles doesn’t have a game on Monday, though Turner seems set to miss most or all of the team’s upcoming series with the surging Phillies from August 10-12.  Since the Dodgers have dropped to four games behind the Giants in the NL West race, L.A. can’t afford to be without its star third baseman for long, as Turner has continued to excel in his age-36 season.

After re-signing with the Dodgers for two years and a guaranteed $34MM in the offseason, Turner has hit .289/.376/.491 with 20 home runs over 439 plate appearances.  While Turner has been no stranger to the injured list over his career, he has been the picture of durability this year, ranking second on the Dodgers with 105 games played.

The veteran’s stability has helped carry the Dodgers through a number of other injuries, so the team’s depth will again be tested for what it hopes will be a brief absence for Turner.  The Dodgers do have enough versatile players to make do in the short term, as the club could slide Max Muncy or Chris Taylor over to the hot corner and then mix and match other bench options to fill in gaps.