On Sunday morning Ron Cervenka submitted an article here on ThinkBlueLA that defended the Dodger’s training, medical and physical therapy staff. He made valid points that really can’t be refuted – you can’t blame the training staff for this rash of injuries that has inflicted the team. Maybe you can place blame on the Giant fan with the magic voodoo doll, but the trainers? No way. I do have a problem though with Dodger management and specifically their decision making with regard to injured players and keeping them off of the disabled list.

To be perfectly blunt, keeping a player like Mark Ellis on the active roster has cost the Dodgers at least two games if not more during his eight game absence. For a few games, Crawford, Gonzalez, Ellis and Hairston were essentially unavailable for action. The team was operating with only ten position players, and three of them were Luis Cruz, Skip Schumaker and Justin Sellers, who are hitting so horribly, it’s like having another trio of pitchers batting on the roster.

Mark Ellis has been invaluable to the Dodgers, but because he wasn’t placed on the DL when he strained his right quad on April 26, the Dodgers have been playing shorthanded for nearly two weeks. (Photo credit – Garrett Nichols)

I realize that decisions are made based on the potential return date of a player as he recovers from injury, but the Ellis quad muscle “strain” appeared to be quite serious from the get go. Rushing him back made no sense. A minimum of fifteen days was about right for it to heal properly. Over in Albuquerque there was Alfredo Amezaga, Alex Castellanos, Dee Gordon, Elian Herrera and others all available. Additionally Scott Van Slyke is hitting the cover off the ball. Yet, the Dodgers waited and played with a depleted roster that put them at a distinct disadvantage.

Albuquerque Isotopes second baseman Alfredo Amezaga went 3 for 4 and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle on Sunday afternoon. He is also hitting .447 for the ‘Topes. The Dodgers sure could have used that kind of production in San Francisco this past weekend.
(Photo courtesy of ABQIsotopes.com)

Somewhere along the line a decision was made to keep Mark Ellis on the roster and play a man short. That decision looked rather short sighted, especially when other players started dropping with day-to-day injuries that were considered minor in nature. Carl Crawford’s strained hamstring kept him out of action for three games. Adrian Gonzalez is going on three days now and up pops an injury now to Jerry Hairston who appears to be looking at a two week recovery from a groin strain.

When Dodger first baseman Adrian Gonzalez ran into first base umpire Tony Randazzo last Wednesday night, there was no indication whatsoever that he had injured himself.
(Video capture courtesy of MLB.com)

It’s fair to say that it isn’t a good idea to go into a three game series in San Francisco with 22 available players on a 25 man roster. It’s hard enough to win with a full deck. Being handicapped by two or three spots is too much to overcome, especially in the later innings when key moves are made. And we have discussed it at length over here that the excuse that it is early in the season doesn’t cut it. All 162 games are important.

I’ve yet to see a decent explanation on why the Dodgers have made these decisions to keep players off the D.L. We wait and wait, and Ellis remains on the roster. It makes no sense and Mattingly has been strapped with fewer options. These guys are baseball people, the decision makers. Don’t they see what we see?