Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers Injury News: How Long Will Daniel Hudson Be Out?

The Dodger reliever suffered an injury to his MCL on Wednesday night.

Matt Wagner

In this story:

Things have been almost all in a positive direction for the Los Angeles Dodgers of late. They're coming off a key series win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning three out of four against the Bucs to pull within a half game of first place in the NL West.

Unfortunately for the team though, they couldn't get out of the series completely unscathed.

Dodger relief pitcher Daniel Hudson sprained his MCL during Wednesday's win, an outing in which he escaped a bases loaded, nobody out jam to record his first save in nearly a year.

It was only Hudson's third MLB appearance of the year after returning from an ACL tear he suffered last season, ending a debut year in Dodger blue that was off to a tremendous start, as he'd recorded a 2.22 in 25 appearances in 2022 and had become a high-leverage arm in the bullpen.

While Hudson's current setback is not guaranteed to be a season-ending one for the 36-year-old, he'll be out for a significant period nonetheless, per Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.

Hudson suffered a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee while pitching out of a bases-loaded jam Wednesday, an injury that will sideline the 36-year-old right-hander for one to two months, if not more.

Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged the severity of the injury and said that there is a possibility that Hudson's season could be over.

“I don’t know the grade of sprain, but it’s going to be a couple months,” Roberts said. “I don’t want to say it’s season-ending, because we’re still holding out hope, but it’s significant.”

Roberts said later that the sprain is "north of grade one" on a one to three scale, so while the injury isn't as devastating as it could have been, it's still a sizable hurdle for Hudson to overcome.

Hopefully, for both the reliever and his team, Hudson will be able to make a full recovery before the end of this season and return to his deserved role as a high-leverage option.

Published
Matt Wagner
MATT WAGNER

Matt Wagner was born and raised in southern California, and he lived there before moving to Colorado and getting his B.A. in Communications from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2022. He relocated back to southern California in 2023 and is looking forward to covering the teams that mean so much to his home area. Some of his past work is in Bleacher Report, Dodgers Tailgate, and, most recently, Colorado Buffaloes Wire. Aside from writing, you can probably catch him petting the nearest dog or eating some good Mexican food.

Home/News