Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner is expected back in the lineup soon following a gruesome bout with a dangerous infection.
Turner had an ingrown hair on the inside of his right thigh that "blew up" and became infected when the Dodgers visited the Mets last month.
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“I had a little ingrown hair and tried to scratch it,” he told reporters before the Dodgers hosted the Nationals on Wednesday. “It just started getting bigger and bigger.”
The infection, later diagnosed as MRSA, resulted in a trip to a local emergency room.
“It was scary,” Turner said of the contagious and antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria. “It’s not a joking matter."
The infected area in his leg was carved out, leaving an open wound that doctors did not want to stitch shut, fearing reinfection. The unique recovery from the infection also called for extreme safety measures as Turner resumed baseball activities.
“It was a pretty crazy program,” he said. “I would literally go in the cage and take five swings off the tee and go back in the weight room and sit down for three minutes and cool down. It turned a workout that would normally take an hour, an hour and a half, to 3 1/2 hours because it required so much rest in between to make sure I wasn’t sweating.”
The 30-year-old was having a solid year at the plate before the infection, batting .323/.387/.563 with 13 home runs.