Corey Knebel leaves game with apparent triceps injury

Dodgers pitcher Corey Knebel faced just one batter on Friday night, walking Wil Myers on five pitches to start the ninth inning. After the fifth pitch, Knebel winced, and left the game with team trainers. He will undergo tests on his right arm on Saturday morning.

“He felt an uncomfortable sensation or something in his upper tricep. Obviously with a pitcher when you feel something that’s not normal, it’s a red flag,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He was smart enough to get out of there at that point in time.”

Knebel hadn’t pitched since last Friday, which was the first time he allowed hits or runs all season. Roberts said there were no warning signs during the week, but with starters mostly pitching deep into games — Friday was the third straight seven-inning start by a Dodger — the opportunity hadn’t come up for Knebel pitch. Roberts said it was a priority to get Knebel into the game on Friday, which was the first time the right-hander entered a game while trailing since opening day.

I don’t want to read too much into the postgame quotes since test results are still pending, but given that Knebel missed all of 2019 with Tommy John surgery, the mood was somber in the Dodgers interview room after Friday’s game. Roberts when asked about Knebel first let out a heavy sigh.

It was more of the same from his catcher.

“I didn’t even want to go to the mound and see what was wrong. The pitch was weird, obviously. He yanked a fastball,” said Austin Barnes. “Trainers were going out there and I was like, ‘Oh, man,’ because he’s such a great guy, he’s throwing the ball so well, and I love having him in the clubhouse.”

Again, it is unclear whether Knebel will need a stint on the injured list, but if he does the healthy pitchers on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster not already on the active roster are left-handers Alex Vesia and Garrett Cleavinger, and right-hander Mitch White, plus the trio of Gerardo Carrillo, Andre Jackson, and Edwin Uceta, all of whom were added to the 40-man roster in November and have yet to pitch in the majors.

Punchless

If it felt like the Dodgers’ recent slump, scoring 11 runs in their last six games while hitting just .128/.238/.244, was bad, this adds some stunning clarity to just how anemic the bats have been in the last week: