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Brusdar Graterol’s year-and-a-half-long injury saga took another disappointing turn Sunday.

The Dodgers reliever underwent surgery for a recent back injury he suffered while on a minor-league rehab assignment earlier this month, multiple sources confirmed to The California Post after Graterol posted about the operation on Instagram.

It leaves Graterol facing another long-term recovery process, putting his chances of returning this season in jeopardy, sources said.

“I fell again, but I won’t stay down here,” Graterol wrote on Instagram. “I will rise. My goal isn’t over — it’s just beginning.”

At the start of May, Graterol went out on a rehab stint with Triple-A Oklahoma City, trying to return from a shoulder surgery that sidelined him for all of last year and the start of this one.

After his fourth outing on May 12, however, he was pulled off the assignment as his back “flared up” on him, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced at the time.

Graterol was transferred to the 60-day injured list a week later.

General manager Brandon Gomes said then that surgery was an option for the 27-year-old right-hander, but that the club wanted “to exhaust all options” first. 

“He’s worked really hard [to try and come back],” Gomes said.

Now, he’ll have to start all over again.

While Graterol’s exact timeline wasn’t immediately clear, sources indicated it’s likely he will require a months-long recovery process.

Roberts had hinted at a prolonged absence for the flamethrower earlier this month, saying that “it’s gonna be a slow program for a while for him, unfortunately.”

Graterol, who has a 2.78 career ERA over six MLB seasons, last pitched in the majors during the 2024 postseason, as part of a bullpen that carried the Dodgers to the first of their current back-to-back World Series championships.

After that, he underwent surgery on his labrum in November, initially ruling him out for the first half of the 2025 season. When his shoulder didn’t recover as quickly as hoped, he ended up missing all of the Dodgers’ title-defense campaign on the injured list.

Graterol was slow-played again this spring, after struggling to regain his upper-90s mph velocity in a throwing program during camp. He opened the season back on the IL but said at the end of spring training that he was confident in making his return this year.

He seemed on track for that up until his May 12 outing, when his fastball velocity dipped back under 95 mph amid his back issue.

Now, suddenly he’s essentially back to square one all over again. Facing another surgical recovery. Another elongated rehab. And, quite possibly, another season spent entirely on the shelf.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Having 43 minutes to sit in the dugout between pitches is not ideal, but Will Warren surely did not mind, given the reason for the long wait.

The fact that it came at Sutter Health Park, where there is no access to the clubhouse or any facilities underneath from the dugouts, made it all the more unique.

But the Yankees right-hander just had to get creative as he watched his offense explode for a 13-run top of the third inning Sunday afternoon, then got back to business on the way to a 13-8 win.

Warren, who made his way out to the bullpen during the offensive onslaught to throw some pitches and stay loose after the A’s second pitching change, put up an important zero in the bottom of the third to keep a 13-3 lead intact.

He then went on to toss six strong innings in which he only gave up three runs, all of them unearned and all of them coming in the bottom of the first.

“We had the big lead, and I don’t know if I was exactly myself,” Warren said of a bottom of the third in which he gave up a pair of singles but stranded both runners. “I think I could have stepped on their throat when we wanted to. Coming back in the dugout [after the bottom of the third], [manager Aaron Boone] and I had that talk. I went back out there and finished the game strong, so that was nice to see.”

Warren had been throwing weighted balls in the small dugout early on during the Yankees’ wild inning, in which they sent 18 batters to the plate.

But as each passing teammate got on base, Warren began to realize he may need to do more to keep moving.

“I heard him kind of asking and maybe freaking out about how he was going to stay warm,” Anthony Volpe said with a smile.

So during the A’s second pitching change, Warren jogged out to the bullpen and threw about seven pitches, then ran to the mound from there to start the bottom of the third in a bizarre scene.

“Will did a good job of settling in, dealing with that long third inning,” Boone said. “When do you see a starting pitcher go down to the bullpen? I mean, it got that long. Good job by him of locking in and giving us six strong innings there.”

The only runs that Warren gave up came after Trent Grisham dropped a fly ball to shallow center field that initially got lost in the sun with two outs.

But he ultimately did not let that, or the long third inning, affect him as he lowered his ERA to 3.22 through 12 starts.

“A lot of time sitting there, and I just wanted to make sure I was sharp to go back out there after the boys put up 13,” Warren said. “Holding them to three with this offense is always going to be a good day.”

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With a lefty on the mound and his former team across the way, Max Schuemann got a rare start Sunday afternoon and made the most of it again.

The former A’s utilityman started at second base for Jazz Chisholm Jr. and went 1-for-3 with a walk, two-run double and two runs in the Yankees’ 13-8 win.

“He provided a good spark,” Boone said. “I knew he’d give us good at-bats, and he did. So good to get him in there and have him play a meaningful role.”

Schuemann has drawn seven walks in 24 plate appearances this season, batting .294 with a .971 OPS in limited action since being called up last month.

Taking advantage of Amed Rosario being on the paternity list, Schuemann was right in the thick of the Yankees’ 13-run third inning, drawing a seven-pitch walk against lefty Jacob Lopez after Anthony Volpe led off with a single.

In his second at-bat of the inning — still with no outs, this time against righty Michael Kelly — Schuemann drilled a two-strike double over the third baseman’s head to put the Yankees up 10-3.

“[Schuemann] has done a good job, he really has,” Boone said. “His versatility, obviously it’s been a lot of defensive replacements or pinch-running situations. The at-bats he’s given has been excellent. … That’s something we noticed in spring. We feel like he can put together a good at-bat.”

Jen Pawol, the New Jersey native, former Hofstra softball player and first female umpire in Major League Baseball, was behind the plate calling balls and strikes Sunday.

“I think she did great, especially when we win,” Aaron Judge said with a grin. “I think she did great. I had her in spring training, I think once or twice, I don’t know if it was last year or this year. She’s on top of it. She’s locked in back there. A couple times, I asked her about a couple pitches, if they were down or if that’s the bottom, and she was right there locked in.”

Pawol, a full-time Triple-A umpire who was called up for the weekend series, made her MLB debut last summer.

The Yankees thought they should have been out of the first inning Sunday when Tyler Soderstrom grounded a potential double play ball to second base with one out.

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But the 6-foot-5 Nick Kurtz, running to second, trailed off toward the third base side and got in Anthony Volpe’s way of throwing to first to finish it off.

Boone argued on the field that Kurtz should have been called for interference, but the umpires disagreed.

“The rule is that it has to be intentional,” Volpe said. “I didn’t really understand it. They understood it was just a weird play, but I think by the letter of the law, they couldn’t really do anything.”

Ryan Weathers and the Yankees were gifted a free strike in the fourth inning Saturday on a pitch that was out of the zone.

Soderstrom challenged it, but there was a glitch in the automated ball-strike system, as it froze on the scoreboard and never showed whether the pitch was a ball or a strike.

Home plate umpire Adam Beck eventually announced that his initial call of a strike was upheld despite the zone on MLB.com appearing to show it as a ball.

“My understanding was that we got one,” Boone said Sunday morning with a chuckle.

Francisco Alvarez appears to be making a speedy recovery from surgery to repair a torn right meniscus he suffered May 12.

Alvarez has resumed baseball activities and Carlos Mendoza said following Sunday’s 10-1 win over Miami at Citi Field that the catcher is scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday.

The Mets have survived without Alvarez thanks to the presence of Luis Torrens, who had another solid game Sunday — helping get Nolan McLean through five solid innings despite a career-high five walks, and David Peterson through four scoreless frames — as well as providing a key two-run single.

But Torrens also had an injury scare, as the catcher was hit by a pitch on his left hand during a sixth-inning at-bat.

Torrens stayed in the game — and scored later in the inning on Juan Soto’s grand slam.

Still, the Mets are clearly better off with Alvarez as an option in the lineup — whether behind the plate or at DH.

Torrens, though, has again proven his value as more than just a capable backup.

Jorge Polanco could have his rehab assignment moved to Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday as the infielder recovers from the wrist contusion and Achilles bursitis that have sidelined him since April 15.

But even when the veteran infielder returns to the Mets — potentially on the upcoming road trip in San Diego — he won’t see much time at first base, according to Mendoza.

The manager said he didn’t expect Polanco to need his glove initially when he gets back.

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“I’m not anticipating a guy who’s gonna play a lot in the field,” Mendoza said.

He also used words like “manage” and “monitor” when it came to Polanco’s usage, which will include off days, time at DH and off the bench.

“Let’s get to that point,” Mendoza noted.

Polanco has played just 14 games for the Mets since signing a two-year, $40 million deal in the offseason.

Peterson has pitched better out of the bullpen than as a starter all season and that trend continued Sunday, as the lefty didn’t allow a run in his four innings in relief of McLean.

As a reliever this year, Peterson has allowed just five earned runs in 24 innings (1.88 ERA) compared to a 7.56 ERA over 33 ¹/₃ innings in his seven starts.

“I was given the ball and I try to do my role and help the team win,’’ said Peterson, who was yanked from the rotation again and replaced by fellow lefty Sean Manaea, who has pitched better recently and seen an uptick in velocity.

Marcus Semien reached base four times for a second time this year.

He homered, walked twice and singled.

Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott entered the game against the Phillies in the eighth inning Saturday with a 3-1 lead. As he stood on the mound at Dodger Stadium, that lead slipped until Edmundo Sosa belted a two-run homer to give his team the lead.

The Phillies walked away with a 4-3 win over the Dodgers, and Scott recorded the loss. But the nightmare was just starting for the Scott family.

Tanner’s wife, Maddie Scott, took to Instagram to expose the ghouls who are flooding her inbox and comment section with death threats toward their family, including the couple’s newborn.

“When did it stop being a game?” Maddie wrote on her Instagram Story in response to a message from a user who said “gun shot your family tonight.”

“I don’t speak out often. Ever actually,” she said. “I promise you, you don’t know what it’s like unless you’re living it.”

Maddie posted another Instagram Story captioned, “The unfortunate reality Incase you were curious,” with a screenshot of six comments posted in a three-minute span from the same user, hawk.3112090.

The user’s hateful comments were directed toward Tanner and his newborn child.

“Hope this mutt d i e s soon,” one of the user’s comments read on a photo of the Scotts’ child. Another said “I hope you get home to your family lying in puddles of their own blood.”

“Hope it’s a still b i r t h,” the user wrote under one of the couple’s photos.

The faceless accounts behind the horrid messages and comments have become more common in the rise of internet trolling — deepening safety concerns for professional athletes and their families.

Maddie gave fans a glimpse of what it is like to be the wife of a high-profile athlete, but the battles behind closed doors of a new mother dealing with threats toward their child are impossible to measure on a social media post.

Francisco Alvarez is set to start his rehab assignment this week, Carlos Mendoza said Sunday after the Mets' 10-1 win over the Miami Marlins.

"As of right now, the plan is for him to play Tuesday in Syracuse," Mendoza said, referencing New York's Triple-A affiliate.

Syracuse is set to host the Yankees' Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.

The Mets placed Alvarez on the 10-day injured list with a right meniscus tear May 13. He last played May 12 in New York's 10-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Alvarez has been catching bullpens, blocking, running and throwing.

"Just two weeks removed from surgery, it's pretty amazing to see," Mendoza said before Friday's game.

Alvarez underwent surgery May 14.

"Alvarez, I mean, this guy is unbelievable," Mendoza said last Monday. "He's already hitting, he's already doing catching. We were talking about eight weeks. I'm not sure about that now. This guy is built different. ... There's a lot of positive from him, too."

Through 37 games this season, Alvarez is slashing .241/.317/.393 with four home runs and 10 RBI.

May is in its final hours, and the Colorado Rockies ended on a high note after scuffling hard for most of the month. After going 14-18 to start the season, they went 8-20 in May, but did finish by winning the series against the San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, the series (and month) ended with a thud as they were outscored 19-6.

That said, it wasn’t all bad.

• TJ Rumfield hit four home runs and continues to be an NL Rookie of the Year candidate
• Jake McCarthy hit three homers of his own — including back-to-back games against the New York Mets — and is now hitting .301/.330/.494
• Ezequiel Tovar has started to get out of his slump, including a two-homer performance on Friday night (that included the Rockies’ first walk-off win of 2026)
• Brett Sullivan had as many hits (3) as pitching appearances (3) in May. While the hitting struggled, the three pitching appearances he made were scoreless and saved the bullpen against Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers. He also became the first non-Ohtani pitcher to homer this year, and nearly became the first pitcher in the history of MLB to homer twice in the same inning.
• Antonio Senzatela continues to shine and is making a case to be a valuable trade candidate and/or an All-Star
• Tomoyuki Sugano remains the Rockies’ most consistent starter, especially among a rotation that’s been decimated by injuries
• Jaden Hill has been one of the Rockies’ most under-the-radar relievers, often falling behind only Senzatela in a number of statistical categories

So here’s the question for tonight: Who are your Rockies player(s) for the month of May? Let us know!

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