The Dodgers are still awaiting a final medical opinion, but fear that highly-touted minor-league prospect Kendall George suffered a moderate patellar injury in his knee on Monday, when he jumped out of the way of a bat dog during a game with the club’s double-A affiliate in Tulsa, according to a source.
George, 21, is a former first-round draft pick considered to be one of the fastest players in all of minor-league baseball.
Last year, he stole a whopping 100 bases with the high-A Great Lakes Loons. This season, he was 26-of-29 on steals with the double-A Tulsa Drillers, and was also batting a career-best .333 with nine doubles, one triple and 16 RBIs.
But then came Monday. After scoring a run in the Drillers’ 14-8 win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals at ONEOK Field, George was jogging back to the dugout when Tulsa’s bat dog came sprinting past him, forcing the outfielder to awkwardly leap out of the way.
A broadcast camera showed George hobbling away in pain shortly after, and looking visibly frustrated as he limped down the dugout stairs.
While the full severity of his injury remains unclear, any injury to the patellar –– also known as the kneecap –– would be a particular blow to George and his high-speed skillset.
The Athletic reported Tuesday that the team was not optimistic about George’s prognosis.
The Drillers are not the first minor-league team to use a so-called bat dog –– which runs back and forth from the dugout between plays to retrieve discarded bats with its mouth.
However, in the wake of George’s injury, the team has suspended the bat dog program for the immediate future, according to a spokesperson.
The Drillers were off on Tuesday, and return to action on Wednesday night. How long they will be without George is a much more foreboding question.