Prior to Sunday’s spring training game against the San Diego Padres at Camelback Ranch, veteran writer and baseball guru Eric Stephen from True Blue LA asked Dodgers manager Dave Roberts if he was surprised at how uneventful this year’s spring training has been. In typical fashion, Roberts replied “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” With no ill will intended at the time, it’s probably safe to say that Stephen is cursing himself right now for even thinking such a thing.

In the bottom of the first inning of Monday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics, again at Camelback Ranch, A’s right-hander and Opening Day starter Kendall Graveman hit Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner on the left wrist with a 95+ MPH fastball, and you didn’t need to be a doctor – or even stay at a Holiday Inn Express – to know that it was bad. Very bad. Broken bone bad.

…and it was exactly that.

Turner suffered a non-displaced fracture to his left wrist when hit by a pitch thrown by A’s right-hander Kendall Graveman. Although no timetable has been given for JT’s return, it is unlikely that he will be back before May.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

“It didn’t feel good,” Turner told reporters upon his return to Camelback Ranch after a trip to a nearby hospital for X-Rays. “Definitely not what I wanted to hear. It started to feel better getting the X-ray and I was hoping it would come back negative. Then you get the news. It’s tough.

“They haven’t given me a timeline. This close to the season, it’s not ideal,” added the 33-year-old Long Beach, California native. “We’ve got a lot of good ballplayers in here and I don’t think anyone is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve still got to go out and play. It’s an opportunity for someone to step up and help win games.

“It’s baseball, stuff happens. I’m going to do everything I can to get back as fast as I can. In the meantime, there’s a lot of good baseball players in here, I don’t think we’ll miss a beat,” Turner said.

Turner is arguably the toughest guy on the team. That’s why when you saw this, you just knew it was going to be bad. (Video Capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

The most likely replacement for Turner, who will be re-evaluated by orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday, is 31-year-old veteran infielder Logan Forsythe. Although primarily used as a second baseman, the soft-spoken Memphis, Tennessee native appeared in 98 of his 702 career games at the hot corner. And by moving Forsythe to third, the Dodgers have an automatic replacement at second base in 39-year-old / 15-year MLB veteran Chase Utley.

“You feel for the player and we’re not as good a team without JT, no doubt about that,” said Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi. “The rest of the guys are going to have to do more for us to play at the same level.

“But the next thought, practically, is what it means for the team, and as far as that goes, we have some very capable guys who are going to be given a chance to seize an opportunity,” Zaidi added. “We feel very confident staying in-house with this one and the hope is we’re not missing him too long.”

Hoping indeed.