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The Tulsa Drillers are suspending their bat dog program following the freak collision that injured Dodgers prospect Payton Martin, per the New York Post. The decision comes after the incident earlier this week in which Martin suffered what is now feared to be a significant knee injury after an on-field encounter with the team’s bat-retrieving dog during a Double-A game. The suspension of the program represents the organization taking a concrete step in response to a bizarre situation that has drawn national attention.

Martin, a right-handed pitcher whom the Dodgers selected in the 2024 draft, had been developing steadily in the Tulsa rotation this season. The 22-year-old was working his way through the Dodgers’ pitching pipeline — one of the deepest in baseball — when the freak accident derailed his progress. Initial reports indicated he was hurt after colliding with the bat dog between innings, and subsequent evaluations raised concern that the injury could involve his knee in a serious way. For a young arm trying to climb through a loaded system, any extended absence is a real setback. The Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate has long been a key proving ground, and losing Martin from the mix hurts Tulsa’s pitching depth as well.

The bat dog program has been a fan-favorite tradition at ONEOK Field for years. The dogs — trained to retrieve bats from the field between at-bats — are a staple of the minor league experience in Tulsa and a major draw for families attending games. Suspending it is not a decision the Drillers would make lightly. But when a player gets hurt — particularly one on a major league organization’s prospect radar — the calculus changes immediately. Player safety has to come first, and the Drillers are making the right call here by stepping back and reassessing how (or whether) the program continues going forward.

From the Dodgers’ perspective, this is a minor league matter in terms of the organizational chart, but it matters. The front office invests significant resources into player development, and an avoidable injury to a prospect is exactly the kind of thing that gets attention at the highest levels. I’d expect the Dodgers to quietly support this decision and potentially have input on whether the program returns at all. The immediate priority is getting a clear picture of Martin’s knee — if it turns out to be a ligament issue requiring surgery, we’re talking about a lost season or more for a young pitcher who was on the right track. That’s a real cost, and it came from something that never should have been a risk in the first place.

For now, the bats in Tulsa will be retrieved the old-fashioned way. The program suspension is the obvious move, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes permanent. We’ll keep an eye on Martin’s evaluation results as they come in.

Source(s): New York Post | First reported: May 27, 2026 6:25 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers