Hanley Ramirez will likely avoid disabled list

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been dealing with a dinged up Hanley Ramirez all season. So far they have not been forced to place him on the disabled list for any extended period of time, and despite a recurrence of a calf injury this week, the team still believes Ramirez will avoid the DL.

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According to Ken Gurnick and Michael Lananna of MLB.com, the Dodgers felt that Ramirez would be available off the bench on Monday and should be day to day to return to the starting lineup. That report starts with a thorough explanation from Don Mattingly of the difference between one’s shoulder and calf:

"“The shoulder’s his shoulder. It’s been there, but I don’t think that’s what’s keeping him,” Mattingly said. “What’s keeping him now is the calf.”Ramirez wasn’t in Monday’s starting lineup in the series opener against the Indians, but Mattingly said he could possibly be available off the bench. Infielder Miguel Rojas started in Ramirez’s place at shortstop Monday."

Shortly after returning from a ding to the aforementioned shoulderthat is his shoulder, Ramirez irritated the calf injury. This continued the hitches that have been thrown into Ramirez’s season. The good news for the Dodgers is that they have seen their season take off even with this stop and go stretch from their slugging shortstop. Ramirez is batting .272/.358/.471 this season, so there is no question about his production when he does play.

The Dodgers will hope to see him at least string together a stretch of good health so that they can appropriately assess their needs between now and the July 31st trade deadline.