LOS ANGELES — Zach McKinstry’s performance in the first three weeks of the season was a big reason the Dodgers were able to absorb injuries to Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger and Gavin Lux.

Now the Dodgers will have to absorb the loss of McKinstry.

The Dodgers’ rookie utility man injured himself while swinging during the first round of batting practice before Thursday’s game and was scratched from the linuep for the game that night. Unable to swing a bat without pain on Friday, McKinstry was placed on the Injured List with a strained oblique muscle on his right side.

“We still have to look not only at the short term but the long term,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, offering no prognosis for how long McKinstry will be sidelined. “When you’re talking about the back or the side, whatever it might be, whenever you’re talking about the swinging of the bat, you’re talking about muscles. You don’t want a week or two-week thing to turn into a four-week thing.”

McKinstry made the roster out of spring training, taking over the multi-position role held by Kiké Hernandez in past seasons. McKinstry made starts at three positions – right field, left field and second base – and ranked second on the team in batting average (.296), slugging percentage (.556), home runs (three) and RBIs (14) going into Friday’s game.

In his place, the Dodgers promoted outfielder D.J. Peters from the alternate training site. The Dodgers’ fourth-round pick in 2016, Peters will become the 12th player from the Dodgers’ draft class that year to make the majors when he gets in a game.

Chris Taylor was also scratched from Thursday’s lineup with lower back stiffness. Roberts said Taylor felt the discomfort during an at-bat Tuesday in Seattle. Taylor did take batting practice Friday afternoon “so today there was progress,” Roberts said. Because of that, Roberts said, Taylor will get “more leash” before an IL move is considered.

“We have (tested the roster’s depth) and that’s part of it,” Roberts said. “That’s why you prepare for things like this with depth and it gives other guys a runway.”

BETTS SLUMP

Since missing four games with lower back stiffness, Betts went into Friday’s game having gone 6 for 29 (.207). He also missed another game after getting hit in the right forearm by a pitch. Not coincidentally, the Dodgers’ offense as a whole has slumped in that time.

“We certainly go when Mookie goes,” Roberts said. “I do see that there’s pitches in the strike zone that he usually puts some more barrel on it. But he’s a special player. He’s going to get going again. Like all of our guys, I still know he’s prepared and mechanically I think he’s fine.”

Roberts pointed to last season when Betts also started slowly, going 7 for 34 (.206) in his first seven games before taking off and hitting .308 with a .999 OPS the rest of the regular season.

“We’re still winning a lot of games and Mookie is going to be right there in the center of it,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers are 6-1 in the seven games Betts has missed this season.

K RATIONS

After striking out just 12 in his first 18 innings (four in each of his first three starts), right-hander Walker Buehler struck out nine in his seven innings against the Padres on Thursday.

Roberts referenced some mechanical adjustments Buehler made between starts.

“With his delivery, he’s a lot like a sports car in the sense of the fine-tuning of the delivery,” Roberts said. “I think some things in his delivery allowed for hitters to see the ball a little longer. I think he’s cleaned that up in his ’pen so it should be different tonight and going forward.”

Buehler acknowledged that he thinks some “mechanical stuff” was causing the low strikeout rate in his first three starts.

“I just think I’m landing better and when you land better you create more leverage and are able to get the hand moving a little bit faster and a little bit cleaner,” he said. “Direction is a big thing and using whatever force you can produce from your legs efficiently I think is such a big deal. Getting that lined up and sequenced a little better, I think they go hand in hand for me.”

UP NEXT

Padres (LHP Blake Snell, 0-0, 4.11 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Trevor Bauer, 2-0, 2.42 ERA), Saturday, 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

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