The Los Angeles Dodgers have had several injuries so far this season, but most of the damage has been done to position players, while the starting pitchers have remained relatively intact. Until now, reportedly, as Ted Lilly will be placed on the disabled list Tuesday, with Nathan Eovaldi getting recalled from Double A Chattanooga to start in his place.
Double A pitching coach Chuck Crim confirmed to Kevin Baxter of the LA Times that Eovaldi is headed to Los Angeles to start on Tuesday. Eovaldi, 22, is 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in Double A this season, and was 1-2 with a 3.63 ERA in 10 games, including six starts, for the Dodgers last year.
Manager Don Mattingly played coy on Sunday when asked about Eovaldi having his scheduled start in Chattanooga scratched on Saturday, switched to a one-inning relief appearance that saw Eovaldi strikeout all three batters he faced. When asked if the switch was related to his major league roster, Mattingly said, "I guess it could be."
Mattingly wouldn't discuss whether or not Lilly was healthy, but the left-hander reportedly has a shoulder injury, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Lilly had his worst start of the season on Wednesday in Arizona, allowing eight runs while recording just 10 outs, but was still 5-1 with a 3.14 ERA on the season. The extent of Lilly's injury is yet unknown.
Lilly began the year on the disabled list while building up arm strength after missing a pair of spring training starts with a stiff neck. But due to an early off day in the schedule, the Dodgers were able to use a four-man starting rotation for the first eight games of the season before Lilly rejoined the group. The starting five of Lilly, Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Chris Capuano, and Aaron Harang have made the first 47 starts for the Dodgers this season.
The Dodgers currently have four starting position players on the disabled list, though they are expected to have Matt Kemp back by Tuesday and Juan River possibly back by the end of the week.
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