Matt Kemp is headed back to the disabled list.
The Dodgers' outfielder was placed on the 15-day DL with a left ankle sprain on Wednesday. It's Kemp's third trip this season and he has only played in one game (July 21) since his previous stint on the DL (July 6-20 for left A-C joint inflammation).
Kemp is batting .263 with five homers and 27 RBI this season.
Kemp's DL stint is backdated to July 22, meaning he'd be eligible to
return August 6, but manager Don Mattingly said Kemp might need more
time.
"That thing just didn't go anywhere for us," manager Don Mattingly said of Kemp's sore ankle. "We were hoping over 48 hours it would get a lot better. It hasn't."
Mattingly added that Kemp did not fight the decision to return to the DL.
"Matt knew once it didn't go anywhere for him that we had to do this," he said.
In Kemp's place, left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly was reinstated from the DL. Lilly, 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in five starts this season, has missed the
past 42 games with a sore neck. He will pitch out of the bullpen.
"It's
never easy to have to take that guy out of your lineup," Mattingly
said. "We've been without him for a while and we've been OK. We feel
like we're better with him (Kemp)."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
