LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers backup third baseman Edwin Ríos will miss the rest of the season after surgery on his right shoulder.
Right-hander Dustin May also underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, sidelining him until at least the summer of 2022.
The defending World Series champions announced their decision later Wednesday on Ríos, who has a partially torn labrum. He will have surgery next week.
The Dodgers also shut down Josiah Gray, their top pitching prospect, due to a right shoulder impingement. Gray, who was scratched from his minor league start at the last minute Tuesday night, will rest for at least a week before re-evaluation.
Ríos got off to a rough start this season with the Dodgers, batting .078 with one homer in 25 games while clearly struggling with his swing.
The 27-year-old Puerto Rican prospect made his major league debut in 2019. Ríos appeared in seven postseason games last fall, hitting two homers in the NLCS against Atlanta.
He had hoped to land a steady backup role playing third base and first base this year for Los Angeles. Instead, the Dodgers will have to use even more of their depth after the latest setback in their significant early-season injury woes.
Along with losing May from the starting rotation, the Dodgers are still without 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger, who incurred a hairline fracture in his leg in their first series of the season. There is no timetable for his return to action.
Starting pitchers, Tony Gonsolin and David Price, are still returning deliberately from injuries to bolster what was probably the deepest rotation in baseball before the season. The staff is already short-handed now, with a bullpen game or a spot start likely necessary Monday against Arizona.
Promising rookie utilityman Zach McKinstry is also still out with strained right oblique, while key right-handed reliever Corey Knebel likely is out for months with a strained back muscle. The bullpen also is missing Brusdar Graterol (forearm) and Scott Alexander (shoulder) with shorter-term injuries.