Toles to undergo surgery, out for season

Dodgers outfielder has torn right ACL

May 11th, 2017

LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers outfielder will undergo season-ending surgery for a torn right knee anterior cruciate ligament suffered on Tuesday night, the club announced on Wednesday.
In addition to putting Toles on the 10-day disabled list, the club put left-handed reliever on the 10-day DL with a groin strain and recalled outfielders and from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Toles was injured chasing 's ground-rule double and trying to preserve ' no-hitter leading off the top of the seventh inning. Toles' knee buckled as he tried to pull up on the warning track. An MRI exam on Wednesday confirmed the diagnosis. There is no meniscus tear. The surgery will be performed in two weeks, and Toles said he is looking at a rehab of six to seven months. He expects to be healthy before next Spring Training.
"I was running to catch the ball, obviously, and I was going to dive, but I realized I was next to the wall and I [decelerated] and stopped really quick on the dirt and it just gave out," he said. "I didn't hear a pop or anything, just awkward hyperextension when my knee hit the dirt."

Toles represents a double loss, as he was the left fielder and leadoff hitter against opposing right-handed starting pitching. Manager Dave Roberts said that rookie will start in left field. Bellinger played the outfield when he was recalled two weeks ago, but he moved to his natural position of first base when went on the DL last week.
"This is more of a runway for Cody," said Roberts.
Roberts said Gonzalez remains on a slow recovery from elbow and back issues, but the injury to Toles could speed up Gonzalez's return. Van Slyke can play left field and first base. will bat leadoff until returns from the disabled list, expected late next week.
"It's pretty frustrating. I got off to a good start, but it's part of sports," said Toles, who was hitting .375 in his last 11 games. "Got to move on. I want to stay positive. I was swinging good, playing good defense, but it pretty much just came to a halt. No sense in being distraught. It's not the end of the world. We got other dudes that can play, so it's no big deal."
On the season Toles was hitting .271 with five home runs, 15 RBIs and 17 runs scored in 31 games. He came to Spring Training with no assurance he would even make the club, but 's herniated disk and 's exceptionally slow start returning from broken vertebrae created outfield playing time for Toles, who capitalized.
Toles was out of baseball in 2015 after being released by Tampa Bay and briefly worked in a local supermarket. He was drafted in the third round in 2012 by Tampa Bay, run at the time by current Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who signed Toles for the Dodgers after he was released by the Rays because of a series of personal issues.
"His outlook on things, he said he'll be back," said Roberts. "Most people would be devastated. His outlook on life is pretty simple. With his trek to the big leagues and establish himself as a big league player on a winning team, says a lot about his character."
Right-handed pitcher Josh Ravin was also reinstated from the DL and optioned to Oklahoma City. He began the season on the DL with a right groin strain.