Hanley Ramirez was helped off the field Friday night after clutching his left hamstring following a slide into third base.
UPDATE: Saturday, May 4, at 6:21 p.m. ET by Tom Kinslow
—End of update—
Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that Ramirez is going to the disabled list.
Andrew Baggarly of CSN San Francisco originally speculated after the play that Ramirez likely would be headed back to the disabled list, which proves this is a serious injury (via Twitter):
If Ramirez misses any significant time, it will be another setback for the infielder. Nothing is official yet, but he could be heading back to the DL just three games after making his season debut.
He recently made his first start of the year during the Dodgers’ April 30 win over the Colorado Rockies. Ramirez was sidelined until that point after undergoing offseason thumb surgery to repair a torn ligament in the finger.
Ramirez homered in that first start to help spark a stagnant Dodgers offense that has scored just 91 runs so far in this young 2013 season. That’s good enough for second to last in baseball.
Expect the Dodgers’ offensive struggles to continue as long as they have key players like Ramirez in the dugout and not on the field. No one else on the diamond seems to be ready to play ball at this point, and Ramirez’s return was the lone beacon of hope for the club.
That beacon appears to be slowly fading, as the shortstop could have significantly injured his hamstring.
Slugger Matt Kemp has also yet to find his groove and could still be feeling the effects of offseason shoulder surgery.
The Dodgers aren’t in despair just yet. Despite their offensive woes, the team is close to .500. They should be all right in the long run if they can remain in contention in the NL West until their bats come around.
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