The Los Angeles Dodgers may begin the 2017 season with outfielder Andre Ethier on the disabled list for a second straight year.
In 2016, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier missed Opening Day after fracturing a bone in his right leg during spring training. He went on to play in a career-low 16 games.
It now appears that he is in danger of missing Opening Day for the second straight year. As it stands right now, Ethier’s current injury doesn’t appear to be as severe as the one he sustained last year, but he could still miss some time at the start of the season.
According to ESPN, Ethier has been experiencing back issues, and an MRI showed “a mild disk herniation.” After receiving an epidural injection, manager Dave Roberts announced that Ethier “felt better.” However, the soon-to-be 35-year-old outfielder is currently expected to be sidelined for up to 10 days.
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The Dodgers will open their season in less than two weeks’ time, when they host the San Diego Padres on April 3. Even in a best-case scenario, there will be a very short window of time for Ethier to work with in order to be ready for Opening Day.
If the corner outfielder isn’t ready to go, the Dodgers have quite a few extra outfielders, and there are a couple of different ways they could make up for his absence. Players including, but not limited to, Yasiel Puig, Franklin Gutierrez and Scott Van Slyke could help fill the void.
Once a prospect in the Oakland Athletics system, the Dodgers are the only team that Either has ever played for at the big league level. Though he has certainly been the subject of trade chatter at times during his tenure with the club, he is now set to enter his 12th season in L.A. Ethier is a two-time All-Star and finished sixth in the NL NVP voting back in 2009.
Though he had somewhat of a down year in 2013 and saw reduced playing time in the Dodgers’ crowded outfield the following year, Ethier had a very productive season as recently as two years ago. Through 142 games in 2015, Ethier hit .294/.366/.486 (137 OPS+) with 14 home runs and 53 RBI.
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Prior to last season, Ethier had a strong track record of durability, playing in it at least 126 games every season since 2006. He is in the final year of a five-year contract he signed in 2012. Ethier has a $17.5 million vesting option with a $2.5 million buyout for 2018, per Baseball-Reference.