Dodgers lose Justin Turner to broken wrist after HBP

The regular season is almost here and the Dodgers have avoided — for the most part — major injuries. Until now.

Justin Turner: broken wrist.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) March 20, 2018

Sigh. Justin Turner suffered a broken wrist in the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the A’s on Monday night at Camelback Ranch.

Turner was hit by a Kendall Graveman pitch in the first inning and immediately left the game. Dave Roberts later revealed in a postgame interview that Turner had suffered the injury.

Turner’s injury has a domino effect on the Dodgers in a couple of ways.

Roberts said his initial thoughts are Bellinger replaces Turner in third spot in lineup, Logan Forsythe fills in at 3B

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) March 20, 2018

This makes sense. Logan Forsythe is an above-average defender at third base (no matter what happened in the Rich Hill perfect game bid last season) and moving everyone up one spot in the lineup is logical (including Matt Kemp, cleanup hitter?!). But what about the rest of the position players?

Enrique Hernandez figures to get first shot at the second base job, as he’s been on fire this spring and has the most upside of any of the options. Personally, my choice would be for Austin Barnes to get a shot at second base and the Dodgers to carry Kyle Farmer as the third catcher — especially since Roberts said today Grandal will get “most of the at-bats” at catcher — but that seems unlikely. Chase Utley is still alive, but he’s best-suited for a limited role. Jake Peter impressed early this spring, but he’s cooled off a bit and isn’t on the 40-man roster. Chris Taylor is a center fielder now, so he’s not an option the Dodgers are willing to turn to.

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Back to Turner’s injury, he is going to be out for a bit. Here’s how long some players who suffered a broken wrist last season were out:

• Freddie Freeman: About 7 weeks
• J.J. Hardy: 12 weeks
• Marcus Semien: About 11 weeks
• Trea Turner: 8 weeks

It obviously all depends on the severity and if he needs surgery, but as of now it sounds like JT is in the “best-case scenario” camp, as Freeman had a non-displaced fracture last season that appears similar to Turner’s injury.

Provided there are no complications, it should be a 2-3 month injury. The Dodgers are plenty deep to withstand Turner’s loss, even if he’s their best hitter. The main thing is going to be getting him back healthy and ready for October, which doesn’t seem like it will be an issue.

Of course, there’s always this option…

.@Dodgers, you know what to do. pic.twitter.com/cWflES8aTG

— Aaron (@Bertsball) May 19, 2017