Ethier healthy enough to ramp up workouts

Dodgers outfielder's broken right leg not completely healed; no timetable for return

July 16th, 2016
"Andre [Ethier] wants to be back and he'll do whatever he can to be back," Dave Roberts said. (Getty)Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

PHOENIX -- Dodgers outfielder 's broken right leg still isn't completely healed, but he will ramp up workouts as his pain tolerance allows, manager Dave Roberts said Friday night after a 13-7 win over the D-backs.
"We'll monitor, but ramp him up and see where it takes us," Roberts said after being briefed on the findings of a bone scan taken earlier in the day.
"Because it's not healed completely, we really don't have a timetable. It'll be healed at some point, but this season to hope and expect it to be pain-free is something that's maybe too optimistic. Andre wants to be back and he'll do whatever he can to be back."
Ethier was injured fouling a pitch off the tibia while the leg was torquing during a swing in a Spring Training game, resulting in a spiral fracture that is not simple to heal. Originally, it was estimated he'd be sidelined 10 to 14 weeks, but he's been out four months and counting. Before being briefed by the medical department, Roberts suggested Ethier might not return until mid-August.
"The fracture is not completely healed, but it's enough where we feel Andre, to his tolerance, can continue to progress with baseball activity," he said.
Ethier proved his pain tolerance in 2013 when he played on a hairline ankle fracture most of September and through the postseason.