

The Los Angeles Dodgers cautioned against the worst when they surprisingly put reliever Michael Kopech on the injured list last week, with the right-hander saying he couldn’t quite pinpoint when he felt something wrong in his right knee and manager Dave Roberts suggesting Kopech could be back shortly.
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“I don’t think it’ll be a long-term situation,” Roberts said at the time Kopech initially went on the IL.
Kopech then said the team had him undergo scans, which showed no structural damage. He received an injection and hoped to resume playing catch within days.
That made Wednesday all the more surprising, when the Dodgers transferred Kopech to the 60-day IL, knocking him out until at least the end of August. Kopech underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in that right knee, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.
The surgery, first reported by the Southern California News Group, is not expected to end Kopech’s season. But it’s an eyebrow-raising development for a Dodgers team that has already dealt with a mass of pitching injuries and currently has 13 players on the injured list.
It’s the second major absence already this season for Kopech, who dealt with shoulder and forearm trouble this spring that he said dated back to the Dodgers’ World Series run last October. He made his season debut on June 8 and didn’t allow a run through eight appearances, though he never had his full command, and his fastball velocity had dropped by one mph on average from a year ago (98.7 mph to 97.7 mph).
The 29-year-old Kopech is slated to hit free agency after this season. He was a breakout star for the Dodgers a year ago after being dealt at the trade deadline, with a 1.13 ERA in 24 appearances after being acquired during the regular season and nine more innings during the postseason as Los Angeles relied heavily on its bullpen to win a title.
(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
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