DODGERS NOTEBOOK: BRAZOBAN OUT FOR YEAR.Byline: VINCENT VINCENT Vital Information Necessary Centralized (movie, The Black Hole) BONSIGNORE Staff Writer The Dodgers couldn't even get through their first 24 hours back in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. before being confronted with another injury to a key player. The latest player to go down is relief pitcher relief pitcher n. Baseball A pitcher who replaces another during a game. Noun 1. relief pitcher - a pitcher who does not start the game fireman, reliever Yhency Brazoban, who learned Friday he has to undergo Tommy John surgery Tommy John surgery, known by doctors as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (or UCL), is a surgical procedure in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body (often from the forearm, hamstring, knee, or foot of the next week to repair his right elbow and will be lost for the rest of the season. He's the fourth player to go onto the disabled list this year, joining Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra[1] (born July 23, 1973, in Whittier, California) is a Mexican-American baseball player who currently plays third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers. , Kenny Lofton Kenneth Lofton (born May 31, 1967 in East Chicago, Indiana) is a Major League Baseball outfielder. He bats and throws left-handed. He currently plays left field for the Cleveland Indians, with whom he has spent 10 seasons during three separate stints. , Eric Gagne and Jayson Werth Jayson Richard Gowan Werth (born May 20, 1979 in Springfield, Illinois) is an outfielder in Major League Baseball who currently plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. He has usually been a bench player, but injuries to regular right fielder Shane Victorino and his backup Michael . Lofton came off the disabled list Friday and was in the original lineup against the Giants as the Dodgers opened a nine-game homestand. He eventually was bumped because of the wet conditions at Dodger Stadium • • [ . Lofton's return was expected to end Cody Ross' short stay with the Dodgers - and perhaps his Los Angeles career - but now that Brazoban is gone Ross is staying with the Dodgers for the foreseeable future. Brazoban injured his arm throwing a pitch Wednesday in Pittsburgh to Jeromy Burnitz After undergoing an MRI 1. (application) MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2. MRI - Measurement Requirements and Interface. test in Los Angeles on Friday, Brazoban's fears were realized. His surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning in Los Angeles and he faces at least a year-long rehabilitation. "It was tough to deal with learning about how serious the injury was," Brazoban said through an interpreter. "But now that I've had some time to think about it I know this is what I have to do to get my arm healthy again." The Dodgers have now lost their closer and a key set-up man within the past two weeks, putting a severe strain an a bullpen that's been less than reliable in the young season. Eric Gagne, who underwent surgery last week to extract a nerve in his right elbow is out for at least another six weeks and now Brazoban is done for the year. Danys Baez, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Tampa Bay Tampa Bay, inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, 25 mi (40 km) long and 7 to 12 mi (11.3–19 km) wide, W Fla., separated from the Gulf by numerous small islands; it receives the Hillsborough River. St. , will close until Gagne returns but the role of set-up man is up in the air. Dodgers manager Grady Little will split the job up with a combination of Lance Carter, Tim Hamulack, Hong-Chih Kuo, Franquelis Osoria and Takashi Saito. The Dodgers bullpen was a collective 0-4 with a 4.98 ERA and two saves going into Friday's game against the Giants. Little said the Dodgers have no plans to bring up another relief pitcher, meaning they'll go with an 11-man staff for the time being. "It's going to mean those guys in the bullpen are going to have to shoulder the burden a little more," Little said. "By having that added responsibility each individual guy is going to have to take it and get to work. We'll have one less guy down there but the end result is that it's going to involve more work for each of those guys." --The good news is ...: Brazoban's bad luck was good fortune for Ross, who has become a national celebrity of sorts with the way he has played since making the team out of spring training as a replacement for Lofton. Ross was a long shot to make it to Los Angeles - he's out of options so the Dodgers would have to expose him to the waiver wire before sending him down to the minors - but when Lofton went down with a strained left calf right before the start of the season Ross had a 15-day reprieve. All he has done over those two weeks is hit two grand slams and a three-run homer - one of each against the Pirates on Thursday - to state his case for a longer stay in the big leagues. He was expected to be traded or put on waivers when Lofton came off the DL, but now he has got a job for awhile longer. Of course, he had to spend a suspenseful Friday morning waiting word of his future before Little pulled him into his office to tell him he was sticking around. "I didn't know if I was going to be traded or put through waivers or what," Ross said. "I knew two things: I was either going to be here or I was going to be gone. I'm just relieved things worked out." vincent.bonsignore@dailynews.com (818)713-3612 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Young fans hope for autographs before Friday night's Dodgers-Giants game, which was delayed by rain. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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