MINNEAPOLIS — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is planning for right fielder Kyle Tucker to be out for the rest of the series against the Minnesota Twins, after he left Monday’s game with low back spasms.
Roberts hopes to write Tucker into the lineup Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series in San Diego, after three days off, plus most of the game Monday.
“Hopefully he [can take] advantage of this, obviously to get right, but also kind of a mental reset,” Roberts said. “Hopefully the four days will suffice.”
Tucker, who said he felt a little better Tuesday but still sore, especially when rotating, is “pretty confident” that he’ll be able to avoid the injured list. And if he can take swings on Wednesday, he’ll probably be on track for that Friday return.
“But if he doesn’t, then we’ll have probably a tougher decision on Friday,” Roberts said.
Tucker, who has a .707 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage this season, has had a slow offensive start to his Dodgers’ tenure. He wasn’t ready to make any declarations about the potential benefits of time off to reset.
“Maybe,” he said. “We’ll see after I get back. We’ll see how that goes.”
The news on catcher Dalton Rushing, who exited Monday’s game to rule out a concussion, was more straightforward.
Rushing hadn’t yet gone through the second round of concussion testing needed to clear him to play when Roberts addressed the media Tuesday afternoon. But Rushing had told Roberts he was ready to play.
“That doesn’t carry too much weight until I hear from the medical staff,” Roberts said. “But it is good to know that he said he’s good to go. My hope is that he’ll be available off the bench in some capacity.”
As a downpour hammered the tarped field early Tuesday evening, it was unclear when exactly the Dodgers would be playing. But despite plenty of rain in the forecast Tuesday evening, the teams and Major League Baseball identified a window for the game.
The Twins announced an estimated 5:05 p.m. PDT first pitch, representing a 25-minute rain delay.
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