Dodgers' Graterol hurt 8 pitches into season debut

LOS ANGELES — Brusdar Graterol felt a pop in the back of his right leg as he fired the eighth pitch of his season Tuesday night. The tears flowed shortly thereafter.

Graterol, one of the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ most important relievers, had spent all season rehabbing from a shoulder injury, only to suffer a severe hamstring strain mere moments after making his way back.

His season is likely over, shortly after it began.

“It was a pretty good blowout,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after a 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. “From what I understand, it’s a Grade 3 hamstring [strain]. That’s a long way back. I feel terrible for him.”

Graterol, 25, has been a crucial high-leverage reliever in recent years, posting a 2.08 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP in 114 appearances from 2022 to 2023. He was lined up to be one of the Dodgers’ primary setup men in 2024. But Graterol sustained a shoulder injury early in spring training, suffered a setback as he was nearing his return in April and wasn’t activated off the injured list until Monday.

A day later, Graterol suffered perhaps the biggest setback of his career. It came with one out in the sixth inning, on a 2-1 sinker that ultimately sailed way high to Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto. Graterol could barely finish his delivery, immediately grabbing his right leg before resting his hands on his knees.

Moments later, he was helped off the field by teammate Enrique Hernandez and head athletic trainer Thomas Albert, clearly getting emotional as he made his way into the dugout.

A Dodgers team that has suffered a slew of injuries throughout its bullpen — and is currently without three key relievers in Blake Treinen, Michael Grove and Ryan Brasier, though all three are expected back relatively soon — is preparing to be without one of its greatest weapons the rest of the way.

“Super sad,” Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw said after a bounce-back performance that saw Kershaw allow one run in 4⅔ innings. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes into coming back and getting on this field. Unless you’ve done it, you don’t really know. We all feel for him. He loves to pitch, he loves to be out there, he loves to be with us. It’s sad. If this is a season ender, it’s really hard, obviously.

“But good thing for him is he’s young, and he’s got a really good arm and he’ll be able to bounce back and be good next year.”