Edman returns for Dodgers, but Smith scratched due to hand

Los Angeles – Tommy Edman returned from the injured list Wednesday, making the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ starting lineup whole for the first time in a while. And then, no more than 15 minutes before the first pitch against the last-place Colorado Rockies, Will Smith‘s right hand once again swelled up, prompting Leg rortvedt to scramble to take his place behind the plate.

Smith sat out last weekend’s series in Baltimore while recovering from a bruise in that hand, which had absorbed a foul tip, but scans came back negative. The Dodgers’ hope is that the Thursday off day will allow Smith, who is batting .296/.404/.497 despite some recent struggles, to catch two of three games against the division rival San Francisco Giants in their next series.

“Not overly concerned,” Roberts said after a 9-0 victory, “but we’ve got to get that swelling under wraps.”

Edman’s return, after sitting out the past five weeks because of a recurrence of a right ankle, provided a glimpse at what the Dodgers’ alignment might look like at full strength. He started in center field and pushed Andy Pages to left, with Teoscar Hernandez remaining in right and the struggling Michael Comfort relegated to the bench.

Roberts said Edman would get the majority of his starts against opposing left-handed pitchers — such as Wednesday starter Kyle Freeland — and that Conforto would still be in the lineup when the Dodgers faced righties.

Edman is a switch-hitter who has fared better this season against lefties (.737 OPS) than righties (.647), but he is navigating a down year, batting .228/.281/.396 in 86 games. His presence should at least improve the team’s defense, though the ideal setup has Pages in right field because of his superior arm strength.

Hernandez has graded out as one of the worst right fielders in the sport this season, with minus-nine outs above average, but Roberts left him there because of his comfortability at the position — while adding that his defense has improved of late.

“I’m toying with it,” Roberts said of flipping Pages and Hernandez. “Obviously like Andy in right, like the arm. Teo finished the season last year in left field [after Mookie Betts returned to right]so we’ve shown we can win a championship with him in left field. Not quite there yet, but thinking about it. And a lot of it is contingent on how Tommy looks as well.”

The Dodgers might also be toying with the possibility of having Roki Sasaki help their beleaguered bullpen. Sasaki, the prized Japanese pitching sensation who has struggled mightily in his first season in the majors, had an encouraging start for the Dodgers’ Triple-A Oklahoma City affiliate Tuesday, averaging 98.3 mph with his fastball — about four ticks higher than his previous start — and reaching 100 mph six times.

Sasaki was charged with three runs, three hits and four walks, but most of that damage came after the fourth inning. What impressed Dodgers officials was the command he displayed not only of his four-seam fastball, but also of his splitter and cutter, the latter of which replaced the slider.

Sasaki, who has made five starts in what has amounted to a rehab assignment while coming off a right shoulder impingement, is expected to meet with Dodgers officials about his next step this week. The Dodgers’ rotation is full, with six starters performing well, but the team desperately needs help late in games.

“We’d have to see it here,” Roberts said when asked if he believed Sasaki could be an effective reliever. “We still have time, but we’re going to have to see it here obviously. We got to make a decision at some point in time, where we’re going to move forward here in the next couple weeks.”

Edman, 30, sat out a couple of weeks at the start of May because of an injury to the same ankle and struggled upon returning, prompting thoughts that he might have come back too early. This time, he played in five rehab games for Oklahoma City, starting either in center field or at designated hitter. Roberts wants to see Edman move around in games before determining how he’ll split his time between center field and second base, which essentially determines whether infielder Miguel Rojas or outfielder Alex Call starts against lefties.

“I think they’re probably about the same right now,” Edman said about his ability to play either position. “It’s not really [where] one will feel way better than the other. I guess I won’t really know until I play both positions, but I think the biggest thing is just going to be the first step. I feel like I’ll get a better feel for that when I have to make a couple tough plays out there.”

Edman, whose activation prompted journeyman outfielder Justin Dean to be sent to the minor leagues, is the latest in a string of Dodgers players to return off the IL, following third baseman Max Muncy and left-handed reliever Alex shutters earlier this week.

Outside of backup catcher Dalton Rushingwho should return at some point next week, the Dodgers are currently whole on the position-player side. Their offense has surprisingly underwhelmed this season, especially lately, ranking 24th in the majors in runs per game since the start of July. They hope that now is the time when it finally will start to turn.

Said Roberts: “I think that we’ve all been waiting for our guys to come back to health and kind of see what we look like as the ballclub that we all envisioned.”