Dodgers Slowly Getting Healthy; Not Much Help Coming From Minors

Many of the Dodgers' injured are due back after the rosters expand in September.

"But Torre also knows he cannot count on having hurlers such as Takashi Saito, Brad Penny, Jason Schmidt and Scott Proctor returning in September.

The one injured pitcher who figures to be back soon is Cory Wade, who came out of a bullpen session Saturday feeling good after being out since Aug. 8 with right shoulder inflammation.

Proctor (right elbow tendinitis) and Schmidt (shoulder surgery) will also make rehab appearances this week. Proctor will throw an inning on Monday and Schmidt on Tuesday, both likely for Triple-A Las Vegas, Torre said.

Penny (right shoulder inflammation) will lightly toss on Sunday, which will be the first time he has thrown a baseball since a six-run, three-inning start on Aug. 13, his second outing since spending almost two months on the DL.

As for Saito (torn right elbow ligament), he will join the club in Arizona next week and throw off a mound for the first time since walking off the hill at Dodger Stadium on July 12.

Outfielder Andruw Jones (left knee patellar tendinitis) is continuing to take batting practice and participate in drills, but he likely will not return to Las Vegas' lineup for another few days.

Outfielder Delwyn Young (right oblique strain) went 0-for-14 in his first five rehab games for Las Vegas, but busted out with a 3-for-5 performance with two doubles, a triple and three runs scored on Friday."

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like much help is coming from the minors.

"With apparently none of the Dodgers' minor-league affiliates looking like they'll be playoff bound, the team's September callups should start arriving on Sept. 2, the second day of the upcoming homestand. It looks like A.J. Ellis will be coming up from Vegas to be the third catcher. He is hitting .309 this year, so he'll edge out Lucas May, who is hitting .228 at Jacksonville, even though May is on the 40-man roster and Ellis isn't. Although I have long been under the impression that James McDonald was a lock for a callup, that apparently is still being discussed and is far from assured. But it looks like Ellis will be the only guy not presently on the roster who will be called up. Dodgers don't have a lot of flexibility. The 40-man is full, and there aren't a lot of guys on it whom you can look at and say, 'He's expendable.'"

The fact that so many guys are alledgedly due to return is a positive, especially the pitchers. Saito, Wade, Proctor, and Penny could really help an extremely tired bullpen. However, it's somewhat sad that the Dodgers aren't expected to take a chance on any of the young players in the minors.