Will Klein’s season took a sharp turn on August 1, when the Dodgers put him on the 15-day injured list with what was first called right elbow discomfort. Now there’s a clearer picture of the problem, and it’s not a small one: Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports that an MRI showed bone chips in Klein’s throwing elbow, with no decision yet on whether surgery will be necessary.
There is at least one possible path that doesn’t involve a long shutdown. If the situation fits, Klein could be a candidate for the “NanoNeedle” procedure to remove loose bodies from around the elbow.
That option didn’t exist a year ago, when the choices were basically season-ending surgery or pitching through it. In the best-case scenario, Klein could return in about six weeks, the same recovery window Tarik Skubal had after the same procedure earlier this season.
Klein’s rise with the Dodgers made the injury sting more. After debuting in 2024 with 7 1/3 innings of 11.05 ERA ball for the Royals and Athletics, then moving to the Mariners before landing in Los Angeles in June 2025, he found another gear in Dodger blue.
He put up a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 regular-season innings and then added five scoreless innings in the World Series. His postseason work included the final four innings of the Dodgers’ 6-5 win in the 18-inning Game 3 marathon, with Klein getting the win after keeping the Blue Jays off the board long enough for L.A. to finally pull it out.
This season, Klein finished with a 3.67 ERA, a 25.9% strikeout rate, and an 11.1% walk rate over 41 2/3 innings. He was sharp for most of the year, carrying a 2.27 ERA through his first 35 2/3 frames, but things fell apart late. In his final five games before the IL move, he was tagged for a 12.00 ERA over six innings, and the elbow issue likely had a hand in that slide.
If Klein ends up being a NanoNeedle candidate, he won’t have to look far for advice. Blake Snell and Tarik Skubal have both gone through the procedure, and Snell is now close to returning himself. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen and other reporters that Snell will be activated from the 60-day IL.
Snell’s Dodgers stint has been stop-start from the beginning. He opened the season on the IL with shoulder fatigue, made one start, and then went right back on the injured list because of loose bodies in his elbow.
Since signing his five-year, $182MM deal with Los Angeles in December 2024, he has logged just 64 1/3 regular-season innings. He missed most of last season because of shoulder inflammation, then returned from the 60-day IL last August and finished with a 2.41 ERA over 52 1/3 innings down the stretch, followed by a 3.18 ERA in 34 postseason innings.
With the Dodgers chasing a World Series threepeat, they’re hoping that version shows up again after another long layoff.
Kris Bubic is also working his way back, though his return still looks distant. The left-hander remains on the 60-day IL, but he told Ardaya that the left elbow soreness originally cited for his mid-May IL placement was actually a left flexor strain.
During his comeback work, he also ran into a shoulder impingement that slowed everything down. Even so, he has already thrown one bullpen session and is scheduled for another today.
A rehab assignment should still be part of the process, but the Dodgers may not need Bubic to build up like a starter. They plan to use him as a reliever, and that could shorten the ramp-up.
Bubic has experience in that role, too. In 2024, while the Royals were bringing him back after Tommy John surgery, he posted a 2.67 ERA, a 32.2% strikeout rate, and a 4.1% walk rate over 30 1/3 relief innings.
There was also news on the position-player side. Kendall George said on Instagram that his season is over after knee surgery, and Jack Harris of the California Post reported that the procedure was relatively minor. George is expected to be fully healthy for Spring Training.
The 2023 first-rounder has been one of the more interesting speed threats in the system. He was taken 36th overall and stole 100 bases in 124 attempts in high-A last season.
This year, he hit .329/.419/.396 with no home runs across 278 combined plate appearances in A-ball and Double-A, while swiping 36 bags in 42 tries. His left knee injury came in May during a moment that picked up some social media attention, when George had to jump out of the way of the team’s bat dog while heading back to the dugout after scoring a run.
The Dodgers also moved Chuckie Robinson off the 40-man roster again, outrighting the catcher to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, according to Robinson’s MLB.com profile page. It’s the second straight month he has been designated for assignment and then outrighted. Robinson accepted his previous outright instead of electing free agency, and he could do the same again with the Dodgers’ catching depth unsettled by injuries to Will Smith and Dalton Rushing.
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