Julio Urias has no structural damage in his shoulder, Dodgers say, but no timetable is set for his return - Los Angeles Times
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Julio Urias has no structural damage in his shoulder, Dodgers say, but no timetable is set for his return

Dodgers' Julio Urias pitches against Miami on May 20.
(Michael Owen Baker / Associated Press)
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An examination of Julio Urias’ sore left shoulder showed no structural damage, but the Dodgers have shut down Urias to allow time for the inflammation in the joint to subside.

Manager Dave Roberts indicated there was no timetable for Urias’ resumption of a throwing program and said that the pitcher will not engage in baseball activity “for the foreseeable future.”

“I don’t know if we’ve made the decision yet on if it’s a week, if it’s two weeks when he’s going to pick up a baseball,” Roberts said before Thursday’s series finale against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. “Right now, I don’t think we have an answer.”

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The Dodgers had hoped Urias would sharpen his delivery during a stint with triple-A Oklahoma City. But Urias reported an issue with his shoulder this week. When his condition did not improve with a few days of rest, he underwent an MRI.

Urias had hoped to break camp as a member of the starting rotation. The Dodgers paused his preseason schedule to preserve his innings for later in the season. Roberts said he did not believe his team’s approach contributed to Urias’ injury.

“No. 1, obviously, I know it’s not the workload,” Roberts said. “As far as how we’ve managed him, I don’t think [it caused the injury]. Because the starts that he made down there, he was throwing the ball well. He has been on a consistent routine.”

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He added, “Part of pitching, having inflammation, a sore shoulder — all pitchers are going to go through that. I really don’t believe it was the way he was managed, and I don’t think it was the workload, either.”

Epidural for Gonzalez?

The second opinion on Adrian Gonzalez’s lower back matched the first, Roberts said. Gonzalez has a herniated disk and could take a pain-killing epidural injection to ease his discomfort. Gonzalez received an epidural last season and played through it.

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“I don’t know a timetable, when he’ll be back,” Roberts said. “Hopefully sooner, rather than later.”

Even so, the Dodgers do not want to rush Gonzalez back. He has shown little power this season, and has landed on the disabled list twice. In the first 13 seasons of his career, he never went on the disabled list.

Short hop

Dodgers minor-league pitcher Jair Jurrjens was suspended 80 games after testing positive for exogenous testosterone. Jurrjens, 31, was pitching for triple-A Oklahoma City.

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