Key Dodgers reliever diagnosed with Grade 3 hamstring strain

Dodgers right-hander Brusdar Graterol was removed from Tuesday’s game in obvious pain, and the club announced that he has a right hamstring strain. After the game, Manager Dave Roberts told reporters that the strain was the Grade 3 variety, the most severe type. Roberts stopped short of saying that Graterol is officially done for the year, but that will likely be the case. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Alden González of ESPN were among those who reported on the details.

It’s a brutal blow for Graterol, as he has already missed most of the season. He was sidelined in the spring due to hip tightness and inflammation in his throwing shoulder and began the season on the injured list due to the shoulder issue. The shoulder inflammation lingered long enough that he stayed on the IL until Monday. Last night was his first major league appearance of the year, which lasted eight pitches before he hurt himself. It seems likely that those eight pitches will be the totality of his major league work for the 2024 season.

For a frame of reference, the Royals put outfielder Kyle Isbel on the IL on May 5 of last year with a Grade 2 hamstring strain and estimated his recovery timeline to be about six weeks. He was reinstated on June 27, just over seven weeks later. Every injury is unique, but it seems fair to expect a longer timeline than that, given that Graterol’s strain is a higher grade. There are just over six weeks left in the regular season, so the circumstances seem to point to Graterol being done for the year. Perhaps he can quickly recover and be a factor in October if the Dodgers make a long postseason run. Still, even in that scenario, he would have to convince the club that he’s healthy enough to be an upgrade over someone already on the roster.

It’s a loss for the Dodger bullpen, as Graterol has been a mainstay of their relief corps before this year. He made 171 appearances for the club over the 2020 to 2023 seasons with a 2.69 earned run average. His 18.9% strikeout rate at that time was subpar, but he limited walks to a 5.5% rate and got hitters to pound the ball into the ground at a massive 62.5% clip. He earned enough of Roberts’ trust to rack up 11 saves and 38 holds.

The Dodgers already have relievers Ryan Brasier, Connor Brogdon, Blake Treinen and Michael Grove on the injured list. Graterol will join that group, though Grove will likely be reinstated to take his roster spot, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times on X. The relief corps has a collective 3.61 ERA that places them fifth in the league, so they should be an effective group even without Graterol, but it’s still not ideal when a serviceable arm goes down like this.

Graterol reached Super Two status after the 2022 season and is in his second of four arbitration seasons. He made $1.225M last year and $2.7M in 2024. With this season almost a total wash, he’ll likely be in line for a similar salary in 2025. He would also be eligible for arbitration going into 2026 and is slated for free agency after that season.