Top Dodger Prospect Joc Pederson's MRI Could have been Worse

Dodger fans with a keen eye towards our most promising youngsters were thrown for a loop when top prospect Joc Pederson came up lame yesterday.  The centerfielder attempted to make an ill-advised diving grab for a bloop single off the bat of Cubs prospect Josh Vitters, and landed hard on his right shoulder (he throws left).  Watch it below:

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As you can see, he fell far short of the ball.  Heck, it was almost Puig-like.

Dodger management was optimistic about the injury.  Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com:

"It didn't sound like it was anything major, but it would be hard for [Conte] to really say. I'm assuming he didn't break his arm or tear his shoulder out of the socket," Mattingly said. "I guess you have to watch out when you get a guy like Joc, but it didn't sound like it was a major, major thing."

Earlier today, more succinct information on Pederson's injury was released.  Based on an MRI, we find out that Joc should be ready to go in a couple of weeks.  Via a tweet from Eric Stephen:

Joc Pederson is expected to miss at least 10 days. MRI showed Grade 1 A-C joint separation in his right shoulder
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) June 25, 2014

This is probably the best outcome we could have hoped for. 

A Grade 1 AC Joint Separation, as indicated on Cedars-Sinai's website, is typically just a slight displacement of the joint.  Furthermore the ligament may either be badly stretched or partly torn.  I'll cross my fingers for the former.  Check out this great graphic I saw at injuryfix.com to visualize what's going on.

(graphic via injuryfix.com)

The downside is that an injury like this could push back his development.  He'll likely need more time than a couple of weeks to build up his shoulder strength, since it's probable that he'll have his arm in a sling. 

Either way, considering how awkward he looked in that dive, I think we lucked out.  This injury could have been far worse.

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