On June 27, Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier was removed after one plate appearance with an injury. The injury was revealed to be an oblique strain, and while those usually result in stints on the disabled list, the Dodgers insisted Ethier's was mild, and that he was simply day-to-day. Ethier would be back in no time!
Ethier hasn't played since. Wednesday, we get news of the expected:
OFFICIAL: @Dodgers today placed OF Andre Ethier on the 15-day DL w/ a strained left oblique (retroactive to 6/28) and reinstated Mark Ellis.
Oblique strains always mean DL stints. You can put them off for only so long. This stint is retroactive and with the All-Star break coming up, the Dodgers won't be missing Ethier for much longer, but they were kidding themselves if they thought Ethier could recover from baseball's most annoying and stupid injury in a matter of days.
On the plus side, Mark Ellis is back. Recall that Ellis came terrifyingly close to losing his left leg. In May.
When Andre Ethier strained his oblique while sliding into a base, it looked like terrible news for a Dodgers team that badly misses Matt Kemp. Ethier's been a highly productive hitter in a lineup that needs those, and oblique strains generally require DL stints. Some of them require absences lasting up to and beyond a month. Thankfully, at least for now, it seems Ethier might be all right. Word:
Don Mattingly said Andre Ethier is day-to-day for now. Oblique strain is on "good side."
This has to be considered tentative, because it's so unusual for an oblique strain to just be a minor, day-to-day complication. The Dodgers will continue to re-evaluate matters and Ethier might still end up on the disabled list. But what seems clear is that Ethier's strain isn't that bad, so even if he does go on the DL shortly, he might not be out long. And he might not go on the DL. Oblique strains can be nasty, but I suppose not every oblique strain is always that nasty.
