The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost a pair of players to the disabled list this week to left hamstring injuries. Juan Rivera was placed on the DL on Wednesday, and Jerry Hairston Jr. on Friday, but the news on Rivera could be worse than originally thought.
Rivera has a ruptured hamstring muscle, the semitendinosus, which attaches right below the knee. Rivera will be reevaluated in two weeks and could return shortly after that, but the worst case scenario is that the outfielder and first baseman could miss six to eight weeks.
"There aren't a lot of these documented. There is one really good study, but even that only has 25 people and it's not all baseball players," said Dodgers trainer Sue Falsone. "Some are hockey players and some are football players. Because a full rupture doesn't happen very often, we don't have as clear of an idea of how long it takes to get back."
The Dodgers recalled Scott Van Slyke from Triple A Albuquerque on Wednesday to take Rivera's spot on the active roster, and Van Slyke figures to split time with Bobby Abreu in left field and James Loney at first base.
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