ATLANTA — One day after A.J. Ellis stepped in behind the plate for Yasmani Grandal, who took a foul tip off his mask and briefly couldn’t open his mouth, the Dodgers placed one of their catchers on the 15-day disabled list: Ellis.
Ellis, it turns out, has inflammation in his right knee. He probably would have started Monday’s game against the Braves while Grandal recovers from the debilitating foul tip.
X-rays on Sunday, and a subsequent MRI, revealed no broken bones in Grandal’s jaw, but Dodgers manager Don Mattingly wanted to give the catcher a full day off. There’s still some concern about the effect of Grandal taking another foul tip off his mask.
Ellis politely declined an interview request before Monday’s game, but Mattingly said the inflammation in Ellis’ knee is not serious.
“On the plane last night he went to Stan (Conte, the Dodgers’ medical director) and said it started getting a little tight and put some ice on it,” Mattingly said. “In the middle of the night, it bulkened up, just stiff and tight. I guess they got an MRI today. No real structural damage, just knee inflammation.
“He was able to hit, able to throw, pretty much do everything but get into the deep crouch. That’s pretty much the one thing you’ve got to be able to do.”
A.J. Ellis tells @alannarizzo he's not sure exactly when he got hurt but thinks it might have been on diving attempt to catch bunt.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) July 20, 2015
Triple-A catcher Austin Barnes, who was already on standby in case Grandal needed the disabled list, was summoned to Atlanta and will take Ellis’ roster spot. Grandal is the backup to Barnes for Monday’s game against the Braves.
“I was going to stay back in OKC because they went on a road trip,” Barnes said. “Whichever situation happeend, I was going to fly to Omaha or I was going to be here.”
The 25-year-old was one of the four players the Dodgers acquired in the trade that sent Dee Gordon and Dan Haren to the Miami Marlins. Barnes went 1 for 5 with a walk in May, while Grandal was on the 7-day concussion DL. He had a .304/.385/.484 slash line in 62 games at Oklahoma City.
