In the second inning of a Spring Training game against the Mariners on Wednesday, Dodgers starter Jon Garland threw a pitch to Josh Wilson and immediately grabbed at his side. The trainers and manager Don Mattingly came out, Garland was pulled from the game, and pretty soon thereafter it was revealed that Garland had suffered a strained oblique.
Jon Garland Suffers Oblique Injury, Removed From Game
The Dodgers are happy with Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly, and Hiroki Kuroda in their rotation. However, they've been counting on either Garland or Vicente Padilla to round it out, and now both of them are hurt. Garland shouldn't miss much time, and this isn't a severe injury, but still, this isn't the sort of thing the team wanted to see.
Depending on the severity of the strain, Garland should miss a few weeks and may begin the season on the disabled list, in which case John Ely or Tim Redding would likely take his spot. Last year, Garland threw exactly 200 innings for the Padres and posted a 3.47 ERA, and the Dodgers will want to get his durable arm back as quickly as they can without rushing him.
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