First baseman Adrian Gonzalez has been one of baseball's most durable players throughout his career, but the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger is out of Saturday's lineup with a back problem.
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Gonzalez to Sit out for Rest of Weekend with Back Injury
Saturday, Sept. 26
According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Gonzalez was a late scratch from the Dodgers lineup against the Colorado Rockies as he battles a sore back. Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times also noted Gonzalez will not play on Sunday.
Gonzalez Comments on Status
Friday, Sept. 25
Talking to Hernandez about the injury, Gonzalez said that it's affected one side of his entire body for at least the past week.
"My whole left side—my hamstring, my calf, my quad—everything feels weak and kind of dead, in a sense," Gonzalez said. "When I'm hitting, I feel like I have no backside. When I'm running, I feel like I can't really push off my left leg."
How Gonzalez Absence Impacts Dodgers
Since being traded to the San Diego Padres in 2006, Gonzalez has appeared in at least 156 games every season. That's one reason he's been such a productive player throughout his career, in addition to just being a special talent.
Gonzalez's presence in the Dodgers lineup is crucial. The strength of this team is in the starting rotation with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke at the top, but the lineup doesn't feature much depth, with Joc Pederson slumping in the second half and Yasiel Puig likely out the rest of this season.
Even though Gonzalez's bat isn't what it was at his peak in San Diego, he still leads the Dodgers with 28 homers and 88 RBI. Considering the Dodgers have nearly wrapped up the National League West title, they can afford to be cautious with their star hitter before the playoffs begin.
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