As Dodger fans hold their collective breathes waiting word on the seriousness of Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner‘s right hamstring injury suffered as he rounded third base for home in the bottom of the seventh inning of Thursday night’s 7-2 pounding of the Miami Marlins, the Dodgers brass was undoubtedly behind closed doors deciding what to do if – or more like when – the extremely popular red head must go on the disabled list. And while it was noble of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to tell the media after the game that JT’s injury might not be as bad as first thought, anyone who was at or was watching the game on television, or who has ever blown a hammy, knows full well that this is devastating for the Dodgers.

“I haven’t seen him, just in talking with the training staff briefly, the strength was there still, which is a positive,” Roberts said. “We’re going to get some testing, some scans tomorrow morning and obviously we’ll know more.

“I know to my eyes it didn’t look good coming around third base, but for his strength to still be there right now, like I said, to be a little optimistic, but to have a little more clarity we’ll need him scanned,” added the Dodgers skipper.

It took a millisecond for the entire baseball world to recognize that 32-year-old Dodgers third baseman injured his right hamstring on Thursday night. The only question now is how long will he be out?
(Photo credit – Harry How)

Roberts also said that it’s the location of the injury that gives him some hope – however slight – that his potential Gold Glove third baseman might be able to avoid an extended stint on the DL.

“The right (hamstring) kind of right behind the knee a little bit … hamstring but a little bit above the knee but not the belly of the hamstring,” Roberts said. “Initially I was (anticipating a long DL stint) but I heard that the strength was okay after the scan. Obviously, the way he took it, we might get a certain DL but we’re going to hold out hope.”

With Dodgers veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez having been reinstated from the disabled list prior to Thursday’s game and with second baseman Logan Forsythe expected back as early as Sunday but more likely on Tuesday (following Monday’s scheduled day off), the Dodgers aren’t in what some might call panic mode. After all, they have (very) hot-hitting utility infielder / outfielder Chris Taylor currently on their 25-man roster. But while Taylor does have some experience at third base, he doesn’t have much of it.

In his combined four years in the major leagues – two and a half with the Seattle Mariners and one and a half with the Dodgers – Taylor has played third base exactly 14 times. That being said, in 10 total chances at the hot corner, he has yet to commit an error, for a fielding percentage of 1.000. Thus far this season the extremely polite 26-year-old Virginia Beach, Virginia native has played a grand total of 16.1 innings at third base, but only one full nine-inning game there. However, in his 88 plate appearances thus far in 2017, Taylor is 24-for-74 (.324) – second best on the team to (wait for it…) Justin Turner and his MLB-best .379 batting average.

Did I mention that this is devastating for the Dodgers?