Dodgers All-Star Teoscar Hernandez Likely Heading to IL After Being Hit By Pitch

The Los Angeles Dodgers are hitting a rough patch at the worst possible time thanks to injuries.

Last night, the team's All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernandez excited the game after being hit by a pitch on his left ankle. Immediately, this year's Home Run Derby champion, whose 28 homers is the second most on the Dodgers this season, went down in pain.

‘IT’S NOT GREAT' 

Despite the pitch being "just" an 81-mph slider, Hernandez immediately fell down and struggled to get up as he grabbed his left ankle as the team's medical staff ran to him. He would end up being taken out and not continuing the game as now Dodgers fans may have to deal with the fact that he could be heading to the IL, according to manager Dave Roberts. 

"Not great. He’s as tough as they come and he could barely move his foot… We’ll give him a couple of days to see how he comes out," Roberts told reporters after the game. "He doesn’t come out of games," Roberts continued by also adding that it wasn't good that even after the game, "the pain typically subsides for him, but it didn’t. It’s concerning."

It's unclear how long of an IL stint Teoscar will be facing, but with 22 days left in the MLB season, anything at all isn't ideal, as Los Angeles begins gearing up for a potential battle for first place in the NL West, where they currently have a 4 game lead over the Padres and 5.5 over the Diamondbacks. It's not just the fact that Teoscar may miss the games, but also the question of how he will be when he returns. As every baseball fan knows, the smallest adjustment to a player's hitting mechanics can have a devastating effect.

Teoscar's potential IL stint news came just a few hours after the team was informed that starting pitcher Gavin Stone would be placed on the 15-day IL, with shoulder inflammation. Currently, the Dodgers have FOUR starting pitchers on the IL including Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is scheduled to return this week for the first time since being sidelined by a rotator cuff injury in June.

Gear up baseball fans, because these next couple of weeks are going to be quite something as we head into the playoffs.