Dodgers offer tough injury updates on pair of pitchers

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) with updates on several injured players Saturday and the news wasn’t good for right-handers Jimmy Nelson and Daniel Hudson.  Nelson’s rehab assignment will have to be restarted after he was recently shut down due to some discomfort while throwing.  And for his part, while Hudson is currently throwing as part of his recovery from a torn ACL last June, Roberts said that his knee hasn’t responded to the point that a rehab assignment could be planned for the near future.

Nelson hasn’t pitched since 2021, with a Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2022 season.  The Dodgers declined their $1.1M club option on him back in November, but then re-signed him to a new deal that pays the righty $1.2M in guaranteed money, plus quite a bit of extra bonus money based on the number of starts, relief outings or appearances of a certain length he might make this summer.

However, there is now fresh uncertainty over whether or not Nelson might pitch at all this year, given both this most recent setback and his lengthy injury history.  Nelson began the season on the 15-day injured list after a shaky spring training performance indicated that he needed more time to fully ramp up, but he has made just one minor league rehab outing (on April 25 with Triple-A Oklahoma City).  A move to the 60-day IL would keep Nelson off the Dodgers’ active roster until the end of May, but since that might be an optimistic target date at this point, Los Angeles could shift Nelson to the 60-day if the team needs to create space on the 40-man roster.

Hudson was moved to the 60-day IL, himself, in mid-April, though it was already expected that he would need a lengthier recovery, especially since ankle tendinitis slowed his spring work.  Given the severity of an ACL year, it isn’t necessarily unusual that Hudson’s knee is not quite feeling 100 percent as of yet, though the lack of a rehab timeline at this point also isn’t a great sign.

The Dodgers took a calculated risk on a quicker recovery with Hudson, making an early decision in late September to exercise their $6.5M club option on his services for 2023. The organization then worked out an extension in the form of another club option (worth a minimum of $6.5M) for 2024.  While there’s still plenty of time left in the season for Hudson to return, the $6.5M investment stands out for a team that initially seemed to be planning to duck under the luxury tax threshold last offseason. There is no guarantee that Hudson can regain his old form when he returns to the mound, though he did look excellent over 24 1/3 innings last season prior to his ACL tear, posting a 2.22 ERA with outstanding peripheral numbers.