Puig placed on DL with hip pointer, bruised foot
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Injuries continued to undermine the Dodgers, who placed slumping outfielder Yasiel Puig on the 10-day disabled list on Sunday and had to push back Rich Hill's return from the DL because of a new finger infection.
Puig -- hitting .193 with no homers -- is out a minimum of 10 days with a pair of injuries suffered in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader: a left hip pointer that occurred when he smashed into the right-field corner wall making a spectacular catch and a foot bruise suffered when he fouled a pitch off it.
Top outfield prospect Alex Verdugo, recalled on Saturday, will see significant playing time in Puig's absence, manager Dave Roberts said.
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Meanwhile, Hill was expected to start Monday night after spending 12 days on the disabled list with a split fingernail, but Roberts revealed that Hill now has an infection in that same middle finger of his left hand and will miss at least one or two more starts.
"How that came about, I can't speak to that," said Roberts. "All I know is there was swelling, some puffiness, an infection, and we're trying to get a handle on it."
Hill is known for his ability to create a high spin rate with his pitches, especially the signature curveball. But it comes at a high cost to the skin on his fingers, the friction resulting in chronic finger issues that have put him on the disabled list repeatedly over the past three seasons. Hill is on antibiotics to fight the infection.
"There's no one more frustrated than Rich," Roberts said.
Brock Stewart was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City and was originallly scheduled to get the Monday night start in Arizona, but the Dodgers elected to have Ross Stripling start on Monday instead. Stewart, 26, has appeared in four games with OKC this season, going 1-0 with a 2.41 ERA.
"Brock can give us length and potentially be a starter tomorrow," Roberts said before the switch to Stripling.
In addition, the Dodgers optioned winning Saturday starter Walker Buehler to Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga, but that is only a procedural move because the plan is for him to start against the Padres in Monterrey, Mexico, probably on Friday.
The good news Roberts reported was the return to the starting lineup of Matt Kemp (left quad) and Kiké Hernández (flu symptoms), and reliever Tony Cingrani reported his shoulder (dead arm) was back to normal.
Roberts said the Saturday option to Triple-A of reliever Scott Alexander was prompted, in part, because there was "a little pressing going on and trying to be too perfect. The fastball command is nowhere as consistent as it needs to be and [the plan is] for him to get a breather, go to OKC and clean things up and get back here."