MINNEAPOLIS — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is planning for right fielder Kyle Tucker to be out for the rest of the series against the Minnesota Twins, after he left Monday’s game with low back spasms.
Roberts hopes to write Tucker into the lineup Friday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series in San Diego, after three days off, plus most of the game Monday.
“Hopefully he [can take] advantage of this, obviously to get right, but also kind of a mental reset,” Roberts said. “Hopefully the four days will suffice.”
Tucker, who said he felt a little better Tuesday but still sore, especially when rotating, is “pretty confident” that he’ll be able to avoid the injured list. And if he can take swings on Wednesday, he’ll probably be on track for that Friday return.
“But if he doesn’t, then we’ll have probably a tougher decision on Friday,” Roberts said.
Tucker, who has a .707 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage this season, has had a slow offensive start to his Dodgers’ tenure. He wasn’t ready to make any declarations about the potential benefits of time off to reset.
“Maybe,” he said. “We’ll see after I get back. We’ll see how that goes.”
The news on catcher Dalton Rushing, who exited Monday’s game to rule out a concussion, was more straightforward.
Rushing hadn’t yet gone through the second round of concussion testing needed to clear him to play when Roberts addressed the media Tuesday afternoon. But Rushing had told Roberts he was ready to play.
“That doesn’t carry too much weight until I hear from the medical staff,” Roberts said. “But it is good to know that he said he’s good to go. My hope is that he’ll be available off the bench in some capacity.”
As a downpour hammered the tarped field early Tuesday evening, it was unclear when exactly the Dodgers would be playing. But despite plenty of rain in the forecast Tuesday evening, the teams and Major League Baseball identified a window for the game.
The Twins announced an estimated 5:05 p.m. PDT first pitch, representing a 25-minute rain delay.
Ariel Atkins’ head whipped back. After taking an elbow from Indiana’s Monique Billings on May 13, the Sparks’ team doctors spotted the potential for a head injury and sent her to the locker room.
It was the second concussion of her career, but she didn’t know that at the time. All she knew was that her head hurt.
“You just don’t feel like yourself,” Atkins said. “It’s hard to even be a part of society. Luckily, this wasn’t a serious one.”
There have been eight diagnosed concussions in the WNBA already this year after just a quarter of the season. There were eight total in 2025, four in 2024 and six in 2023.
The “why” could be bad luck, better awareness in diagnosing concussions or something else. Atkins thought the lack of game flow because of new officiating standards might be making things harder.
“You would think it should be down,” Atkins said. “Maybe there is no rhythm when there are stoppages.”
Atkins got hit in the nose against the Wings three weeks after returning from her concussion. She stayed in the game after a quick check on the bench.
She didn’t have a concussion that time, but players do seem to be getting hit in the head at a higher rate. Minnesota-based sports scientist Lucas Seehafer thinks it’s too early to make a definitive declaration of why that is happening.
“Some players and coaches in the past have talked about the physicality of the play,” he said. “I know some people have talked about how the rules are kind of lax, or you’re maybe not as rigorous as what they could be in terms of like punishing blows above the shoulders and that kind of stuff. But it’s tough to say with any certainty until we get more data.”
On opening night in Seattle, Golden State forward Cecilia Zandalasini suffered her first concussion when elbowed by the Storm’s Zia Cooke.
She called the process to return a “nightmare.”
“It was so weird with the feeling of always having a headache,” she said. “I had to wait until it was gone, I couldn’t move.”
Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini called working through concussion protocal a “nightmare” earlier this season.
(Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)
Seehafer said that when it comes to women’s sports, hockey and soccer have a reputation for having higher concussion rates, but basketball can be just as physical.
“Compared to the rest of the [pro sports] leagues, the WNBA is pretty much doing exactly what the other leagues are doing, but again, is that enough?” he said. “It’s tough to say. I would say they’re not, but I don’t think they’re egregiously leaving athletes open to even more severe injuries, necessarily. My bias is just that everything can be safer.”
The WNBA follows the same concussion protocol as the NBA, by which a player must undergo a locker room evaluation after getting hit in the head. If the player is cleared by medical staff, they can return to the game.
Any player showing concussion-related symptoms, such as a headache or dizziness, must be monitored for 24 hours by the team’s medical staff. Once they are symptom-free, they go through a range of activities from light physical activity to full-contact practice. They must stay symptom-free throughout that entire process to be allowed back into games.
“Back when I played, I didn’t know what concussion meant,” said Sparks coach Lynne Roberts. “I think now we understand the science of how serious it is, and we don’t rush them back. Once they’re back, there’s really nothing you can do. It’s a contact sport, and the players just kind of play through that, but obviously we’re very cautious with not letting a player play until the doctor’s fully certain that she’s symptom-free and at no risk.”
The hardest part with concussions can be the initial diagnosis. Oftentimes, symptoms show up hours or even days later. For Zandalasini, she was originally diagnosed with a jaw injury before dealing with a headache the next day.
Atkins knew a little bit about what concussions felt like, and even this time was different. Why concussions are up this year is still a mystery, and perhaps it will even out as the season goes on.
But for now, players and medical staff are on alert.
“It’s the thing with athletes, right?” Atkins said. “We’re trying to figure out pain versus injury, like, is it something serious? Is it not? I don’t want to hurt myself further. So, yeah, it can be hard to decipher that with a head injury.”
Towering superstar Victor Wembanyama toppled onto his face Tuesday night — timberrr!!! — and the NBA playoff scenario immediately became as scrambled as the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 center’s thoughts must have been moments after he suffered a concussion.
Without Wembanyama for nearly three quarters, the Spurs fell to the underdog Portland Trail Blazers, 106-103, with the first-round series tied 1-1 and headed to Portland for Game 3 on Friday.
Peering forward, an extended absence by Wembanyama would seem to place the Spurs in serious jeopardy of a first-round exit. After all, “Wemby” is the league’s defensive player of the year in addition to averaging 25 points and 11.5 rebounds a game. He is a two-way force of unprecedented magnitude.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have responded to the loss of Doncic so well that Times columnist Bill Plaschke declared “believe it, this series is already over” after their Game 2 victory Tuesday night. The absence of Doncic and his 33.3 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds a game was masked by the exceptional play of teammates.
Does that make Wembanyana more valuable than Doncic? Does it raise Wembanyana’s NBA Most Valuable Player credentials to the level of fellow finalists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic?
That’s a topic worth debating on another day. For now, the pertinent questions are how severely Wembanyana is injured and how long will he be sidelined. The Spurs and Trail Blazers play Game 3 on Friday night, Game 4 on Sunday and Game 5 on Tuesday night. The median time lost to concussion in the NBA is seven days.
“He has a concussion and he is in the protocol,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said afterward. “We’ll obviously take the proper and appropriate steps.”
A player in concussion protocol must have at least 48 hours of inactivity and undergo neurological testing while meeting certain criteria without symptoms before being cleared to play. A decision on clearance will come from the NBA concussion protocol director Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher in consultation with the Spurs’ team doctor.
The injury occurred early in the second quarter. After backing into the paint with the ball, Wembanyama turned to explode toward the basket. Portland defender Jrue Holiday executed a maneuver termed “pulling the chair” — moving completely away from the Spurs center, who clearly was expecting contact.
Wembanyama lurched forward, toppled and slammed the right side of his face on the floor. He stayed down for several seconds before sitting up and putting his hands on his face. Television analyst Reggie Miller exclaimed, “He is dazed.” Wembanyama finally stood and jogged directly to the locker room. He did not return.
Meanwhile at Crypto.com Arena, Doncic and Reaves cheered from the bench throughout the Lakers’ inspired dismantling of the Rockets. Smart scored 25 points and Kennard added 23.
“I know we just kind of flipped the switch,” Kennard said. “We told each other, this is what we got right now. We’ve got to believe in what we have.”
Added Smart: “The word is, ‘elevate’ for us, and that’s all we’ve been trying to do, is elevate our play on both ends.”
Wembanyana’s backup is Luke Kornet, who has played for six teams since going undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2017. He was effective during a 14-minute stint in the Spurs’ Game 1 victory over Portland and had 10 points and nine rebounds in Game 2 after Wembanyana exited. He’ll need to step up the way Smart and Kennard have for the Lakers.
Injuries are inevitable. How teammates respond when a superstar is sidelined provides insight on multiple levels. So far, the loss of Doncic — and Reaves — has been overcome by the Lakers while the loss of Wembanyama could cripple the Spurs.
