6:57pm: As relayed by MLB.com’s Juan Toribio, Roberts corrected himself this evening about Graterol’s injury, noting that the right-hander had suffered a Grade 1 hamstring strain. A Grade 1 hamstring strain is the most mild form of strain, while a Grade 3 strain constitutes a complete tear of the hamstring. This is, of course, excellent news for Dodgers fans and Roberts went on to suggest that the club “remains hopeful” that the righty can return at some point this season.
5:22pm: The Dodgers announced Graterol’s placement on the injured list this evening and activated Grove to take his roster spot as expected. The club also announced that shortstop Miguel Rojas was being activated from the injured list and optioned outfielder James Outman to make room for him on the active roster.
8:40am: Dodgers right-hander Brusdar Graterol was removed from last night’s game in obvious pain and the club announced that he has a right hamstring strain. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters after the game that the strain was the Grade 3 variety, the most severe type. Roberts stopped short of saying that Graterol is officially done for the year but it seems likely that will be the case. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Alden González of ESPN were among those to report on the details.
It’s a brutal blow for Graterol personally, as he has already missed the majority of the season. He was sidelined in the spring due to hip tightness and inflammation in his throwing shoulder and began the season on the injured list due to the shoulder issue. The shoulder inflammation lingered long enough that he stayed on the IL until Monday. Last night was his first major league appearance of the year, which lasted eight pitches before he hurt himself. Now it seems likely that those eight pitches will be the totality of his major league work for the 2024 season.
For a frame of reference, the Royals put outfielder Kyle Isbel on the IL on May 5 of last year with a Grade 2 hamstring strain and estimated his recovery timeline to be about six weeks. He was reinstated on June 27, just over seven weeks later. Every injury is a unique situation but it seems fair to expect a longer timeline than that, given that Graterol’s strain is a higher grade. There’s just over six weeks left in the regular season now, so the circumstances seem to be pointing to Graterol being done for the year. Perhaps he can make a quick recovery and be a factor in October if the Dodgers make a long postseason run, but even in that scenario, he would have to convince the club that he’s healthy enough to be an upgrade over someone else already on the roster.
It’s a loss for the Dodger bullpen, as Graterol has been a mainstay of their relief corps prior to this year. He made 171 appearances for the club over the 2020 to 2023 seasons with a 2.69 earned run average. His 18.9% strikeout rate in that time was subpar but he limited walks to a 5.5% rate and got hitters to pound the ball into the ground at a massive 62.5% clip. He was able to earn enough of Roberts’ trust to rack up 11 saves and 38 holds.
The Dodgers already have relievers Ryan Brasier, Connor Brogdon, Blake Treinen and Michael Grove on the injured list. Graterol will be joining that group though Grove is likely to be reinstated to take his roster spot, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times on X. The relief corps has a collective 3.61 ERA that places them fifth in the league, so they should be an effective group even without Graterol, but it’s still not ideal when a serviceable arm goes down like this.
Graterol reached Super Two status after the 2022 season and is therefore in his second of four arbitration seasons. He made $1.225MM last year and is making $2.7MM here in 2024. With this season being almost a total wash, he’ll likely be in line for a similar salary in 2025. He would also be eligible for arbitration going into 2026 and is slated for free agency after that season.
That was fast.
Red Sox were smart not to take him in that trade.
Even with injuries he’s been tons better than Jeter Downs.
He hasn’t been more valuable than Connor Wong though. The original trade was just Verdugo and Graterol going to Boston.
Wong is going to be interesting. Hopefully his bat stays better than expected but the catcher of the future is coming and Wong could be available this off season as a valuable trade chip.
Bloom was adamant that Gratreol could start.
He pitched really well last season, but before then it wasn’t anything spectacular. Looks like he was a decent bullpen arm but didn’t throw many innings (injuries?). Could you imagine if Bloom tried to stretch him out as a starter and it failed?
That being said, gotta feel for the guy. Work your way back and face yet another injury. Wishing him a speedy recovery.
I’d like the Cubs to go after Wong in a trade to pair up with Miguel Amaya, with Moises Ballesteros as the 3rd catcher/DH.
It’ll not be this offseason Wong is moved am pretty sure. sox have slow walked all 3 of Teel/Meyer/anthony and only Meyer needs added to the 40 man this winter.
Do think all 3 will get to AAA for last few wks of this season, but doubt Anthony/Teel get any Sept callup and doubt seriously even Meyer does for a short audition in Boston.
Right Downs isn’t even in MLB.
Who cares about Downs? Wong has turned out to be much better than expected. You never know what prospects become. Look at Abreu. Not many Sox fans were happy with the Vasquez trade yet we are today. Wong as I said before could be a valued trade piece as part of a deal for a true ace or a stud right handed bat. Same thing with Yoshida. Bloom was laughed at but he did what ownership wanted and left the team in a good moving forward position. Yes, I would have liked more pitching in the pipeline and kudos to CB II who is addressing it (i.e. Verdugo and Yorke trades).
Dewey – Downs was he centerpiece of the trade, and while Wong has been great this year, it has taken nearly 4 years to see any good return from the Betts trade.
And people were upset with the Vazquez trade because Bloom didn’t pick a direction. He bought and sold when the team was in the playoffs picture. If he sold more at the deadline, it would have looked great. However, since he only sold Vazquez and then tried to add with Pham and Hosmer the deadline as a whole is viewed as a failure. The move was confusing because there were many other veterans to sell that he held on to. Why trade your starting catcher in the middle of the playoff hunt if you’re trying to compete without a good backup plan?
Yoshida is a waste. Everyone but Bloom apparently could see his defense was abysmal, so they overpaid for a light hitting, left handed DH when the team he was building was full of LHH already.
This doesn’t even tough the abysmal Story deal. Besides his offensive numbers being inflated due to Coors, there was a reason why teams were not jumping to sign him that off-season. And instead of extending Xander at a reasonable price, Bloom spent a ton on Story who was hurt, hasn’t been able to stay healthy, and didn’t hit when he was playing. His defense was great though!
Bloom did not leave the team in a good moving forward position. The team had literally no good pitching prospects, and a severe lack of pitching talent in the majors. His obsession with LHH high school shortstops was weird. If he instead drafted some pitchers early, the team would have been in a much better position.
The team is now in a good position because Breslow has acquired a ton of pitching prospects. Bloom stockpiled middle infield high school prospects, great. That’s not how you build a team.
Bloom was laughed at because the team had 3 last place finishes in four years and he refused to actually address the issue plaguing the team: pitching.
Name the top 10 pitching prospects that flourished since Clemens.
Lester, Buchholtz maybe?
The Sox have done a poor job historically of developing pitching prospects. There was a span of about 15 years post Buchholz and Bello/Houck where there’s just nothing.
They did draft some SP early (Owens, Trey Ball, etc) and they just didn’t pan out.
They did trade away some SP prospects who did well, such as Frankie Montans in the Peavy deal.
They used to just trade for or sign the good SP in FA.
—Vazquez trade because Bloom didn’t pick a direction. He bought and sold when the team was in the playoffs picture.—
That answer is simple and not hard to figure. Sox owner John henry has been more focused on selling tickets, plus beer and hot dogs than commiting to a full rebuild..
Been that way for awhile now and a reason Dombrowski left.
Henry’s motto, since 2018 should be in hot dogs we trust.
Yoshida gets a lot of hate but he’s been one their best hitters over the last month with hitting at a .321 clip including a big Home Run and clutch 2-run single last night
Jeter Downs just signed overseas. Graterol if nothing else helped the Dodgers in 2020 and has been a good RP in the postseason.
The problem with this much hindsight is you are going to bump into a lot of things.
Are you saying they couldn’t have used hum last year when he had 1.20 ERA over 60 games. Yea the Sox are super smart.
@Brose 2
How’s a 3.31 SIERA going to help the Sox?
When Graterol is right he’s sooo good. When Jeter Downs is right he’s just Jeter Downs
Red Sox deserve zero credit or praise when they were the morons who traded Mookie Betts. It’s like someone buying a Cybertruck and then going “at least they were smart to not waste money on that bumper sticker they wanted!” They could’ve afforded to keep him with the money they make, they wasted money on others, and they only just now are looking semi relevant so the rebuild is wasn’t even worth giving him up.
“Strain” doesn’t sound that bad, but it actually refers to torn tissue. Given his multiple injuries this year, just let him heal over the offseason and give it another go next year.
Wow, that stinks for him. You have to feel for the guy.
With a BMI of 35.0 and playing in a world that is about 2 degrees warmer than when he was born, it’s no surprise that the parts break down.
Injuries typically occur more in colder weather when the body has to sustain its core body temperature. Also takes more energy for muscles to function at the highest capacity in cold weather which can lead to overexertion and muscle fatigue setting in quicker.
As a former Workers Compensation actuary, I can only tell you that the data says otherwise.
With US officials bracing for another summer of dangerous heat, a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found important effects of excessive heat on the incidence of occupational injuries.
“The study found the probability of work-related accidents increases by 5 to 6 percent when the maximum daily temperature rises above 90°F, relative to a day with temperatures in the 65–70°F range.
“relative to a day with temperatures in the 65–70°F range”
So relative to essentially room temperature.
By cold weather I meant negative numbers to 45-50 degrees.
Another summer of dangerous heat lol wacky
Whyhazee, I have to tell you that I received a perceived new case last week wherein it was thought that a laborer overheated on a project in the AZ desert. My first question was were others were affected and the response I received was there was no dangerous situation as post incident test results revealed excessive cannabis poisoning…lol (imagine a worker “high” up on a ladder or scaffold…).
“The study found the probability of work-related accidents increases by 5 to 6 percent
========================
You need a lot more detail. Accidents probably occur because of slippery hands, heat-stroke related issues, lack of focus in warmer temperatures. My joints are always looser in the heat than the cold.
I’m talking about thetemperatures when most baseball games are played. I agree that playing in the 40’s is NOT a good recipe for success.
Sounds like a meeting of intervening agency and confounding variable that was quite ill advised.
So your validation of a 2 degree change in weather causing injury, is to cite stats about 20-30 degree changes?
I can see why you’re a former workers compensation actuary, not a current workers compensation actuary.
extreme heat (which is increasing in places where it was once rare), and extreme cold are responsible for work-related injuries and poor health conditions. So I guess you’re both correct in a general sense. What probably relates most (in terms of temperature) to this specific injury however is the temperature in LA last night when Graterol was warming up and then pitching in the game, which was in the high 70s. Regardless, this injury is more deflating to the Dodgers than it is dehydrating.
FWIW, the temperature at Dodger Stadium was in the mid-70s when Graterol came into the game last night. It was around 80 at first pitch. Shorts weather, but hardly hot by the standards of anywhere baseball is played in summer.
It’s more important to note the humidity as well as the temperature. Proper hydration is a 48 hour process. If you are underhydrated the day before there is nothing you can do to “catch up”. So there’s that component as well.
He’s from Venezuela. I’m sure 75F with LA humidity isn’t anything out of the ordinary for him
That’s gonna leave a brusdar.
After an awesome 2023 season for Graterol, I kept him in my Scoresheet keeper league. Poor decision on my part.
He hasn’t worked out as well as hoped, but he helped the Dodgers hoist a World Series trophy. Something he would not have done in Minnesota or Boston.
His season is not a “total wash.” A wash is when something comes out more or less even. The word you were looking for is loss. His season is a total loss.
“Wash” as in “washed away” is the way I interpret it. I think that’s fairly clear. In my experience, the use of the term ‘wash’ meaning to break even, isn’t used nearly as much.
You are more generous than I can be. I see all sorts of malapropisms in writing today. This one is the difference between using the word as a verb or a noun, which changes the meaning considerably.
I’m as guilty as anyone with creating verbs out of nouns and vice versa.
months of rehab on the arm just to destroy his hamstring after 8 pitches, typical for the Dodger’s season.
It’s like they forget they still need to use their legs when they’re back on a mound.
Grade 3 is see you next Spring.
it is but once again dave robots erroneously calls the injury worse than it is. its a grade 1 and dave should stick to back slapping.
He’s a great weapon when healthy. Easy gas, heavy sinker. A shame to see him go down like that. On the plus side, I guess this helps the bullpen logjam, although I’m sure the Dodgers would rather have Graterol on the playoff squad than Honeywell.
If Honeywell is on the playoff roster, this team is in trouble.
What would Honeywell be doing in the playoffs, eating innings in games LAD is badly losing?
Bummer.
2.7 mill for 8 pitches, must have been mighty impressive 8 pitches.
Bummer is a Brave
Too bad, for him and the Dodgers. I hope one of the youngsters, Wrobleski or Knack is next up. There is still one journeyman retread on the 40-man, Michael Petersen.
The bazooka had a misfire
Is this what happens when you’re all arm with your delivery and don’t know how to use your lower half?
I love Graterol, but I can’t stand when people say he throws the easiest 98+, it looks super high effort to me. Yadier Alvarez, now THAT was the easiest 98+ I had ever seen. Too bad he went from being broke to being a millionaire in an instant and totally lost interest in baseball.
Updated Grade 1 strain means he can come back before the season’s end.
I posted this a week ago when the Dodgers had a 5-7 game lead. Time to repost now that the Dodger’s lead in the NLW is down to 3 games for both the Padres and Dbacks.
Time for a Poll Question:
Who will be the first to catch the Dodgers in the NLW standings this year?
1). Diamondbacks
2). Padres
3). Both at the same time
4). First one, then the other
5). Neither one