Category Archives: Injuries

November 4, 2025

Yu Can’t Pitch

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Yu Darvish underwent UCL surgery and will miss all of the 2026 season for the Padres:

Darvish, 39, also got an internal brace in the surgery performed last week, the Padres announced Tuesday.

“I will be working hard on my rehab to be able to throw a ball comfortably again,” Darvish wrote in Japanese on social media.

Darvish had Tommy John surgery in March 2015 and returned to a major league mound on May 28, 2016.

ESPN.com

Of course, in 2015 he was seasonal age 28. When and if he returns in 2027, he’ll be seasonal age 40. There is a good chance this injury ends his career.

October 28, 2025

Springer Sits

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George Springer is not in the lineup for the Blue Jays. The silver lining comes from Bo Bichette moving to designated hitter, which may keep his bat in the lineup longer. I also like that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bichette move up to two and three, which may help them get an extra play appearance.

The Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) would bat the pair first and second, with Daulton Varsho batting cleanup. Still, tonight’s lineup is on par with the best the LAT has to offer.

October 27, 2025

Springer Hurt

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George Springer leads off the seventh inning in a 4-4 game. He swings and misses at the first pitch, and comes out of the game with what appears to be an oblique injury. If that’s true, he may not see any more action in the series.

Update: Ty France pinch hits and strikes out. With two out, however, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singles, then Bo Bichette fights off a number of 1-2 pitches then doubles down the rightfield line. A ricochet and and an off-line throw allows Guerrero to score, and the Blue Jays lead the Dodgers 5-4.

October 23, 2025

Waiting for Bichette

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The Blue Jays continue to contemplate Bo Bichette‘s availability for the World Series:

“Feeling good enough,” Bichette said Thursday.

Bichette took groundballs at second base and faced live pitching Wednesday. Schneider said he was scheduled for a similar routine Thursday “with a little bit more attention to detail from a defensive standpoint.”

Schneider said Toronto is considering Bichette, 27, for shortstop, second base, or designated hitter. He could also start the series strictly in a pinch-hitting role. Bichette last played second base in April 2019 in Triple-A.

ESPN.com

The Blue Jays offense played very well without him, but they certainly would be better offensively with Bichette in the lineup.

October 17, 2025

Knee to Know

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George Springer just got hit in the right knee and is on the ground. The Blue Jays lead the Mariners 2-1 with one out in the seventh inning, and the Jays will have a a man on first.

Update: Springer limps to first base as he tries to stay in the game, but the Blue Jays take him out. Eight of his ten his this post season went for extra bases.

September 13, 2025 September 12, 2025

Skubal Scuttled?

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Tarik Skubal of the Tigers just left the game against the Marlins in the fourth inning, escorted off the mound by the trainer. Not clear what he injured, but the Tigers have to hope it’s not too serious.

The Marlins lead 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth.

The just showed the last pitch on replay, and he grabbed his left side on the rib cage after throwing the ball.

September 11, 2025 September 9, 2025 September 7, 2025

Too Close

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Logan O’Hoppe of the Angels just left the game against the Athletics as Jacob Wilson hit him in the jaw with a backswing. Wilson was going through his warm up swings, and on the circle back caught O’Hoppe hard. Wilson looked like he was standing properly and wasn’t doing anything unusual. I wonder if this is another example of the catchers setting up too close to the plate in order to frame better? Wilson was keeping his back swings closer to his body when play continued.

The Angels lead the Athletics 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning.

September 2, 2025

Fast Slugfest

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The Red Sox downed the Guardians Tuesday night at Fenway 11-7. The game took just 2:26. The teams combined for 253 pitches, 187 for strikes, with no walks issued. With 78 batters in the game, PAs averaged just 3.2 pitches.

The bad news for the Red Sox is that Roman Anthony left the with an oblique injury.

Update: It’s fast Tuesday as the Mets beat the Tigers 12-5 in 2:43.

August 28, 2025

Seager Surgery

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Corey Seager of the Rangers needed his appendix removed:

Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said Seager had surgery in Texas after the team traveled to California for the start of a series against the Athletics on Friday night.

Young said it was too early to know how much time the two-time World Series MVP will miss.

“Corey, he’s extremely impactful for our team, and at this point in the season, with everything we’ve experienced thus far, that’s a tough blow,” Young said. “… I will express that Corey did not want to rule out the season, and in fact, he’s been researching athletes who’ve come back from this quickly.”

ESPN.com

We had a friend who was a surgeon who was in the operating room the next day after having his appendix removed. The surgery tends to be less invasive than when I was young, but it depends on many things. With luck he might be back in two weeks. He’s currently second in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, so this is a big blow to the Rangers playoff chances.

August 23, 2025

Wheels on Fire

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The Phillies officially lose Zack Wheeler for the rest of the season:

The 35-year-old right-hander underwent surgery this week to remove a blood clot in his throwing shoulder. Venous thoracic outlet — a rare sub-type of the compression disorder that pinches a vein and causes blood clots to form — is repaired through surgery, which has been recommended for Wheeler and could allow him to return by Opening Day 2026. The surgery typically entails the removal of a rib to help decompress the area.

ESPN.com

It’s tough for the Phillies to lose their best pitcher as they head to the playoffs, but good for Wheeler that they caught it before the clot did major damage.

August 21, 2025

Hidden Injury

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Here’s another data point in the falloff in production due to an injury category:

Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker, who has been given several days off this week for a reset amid his struggles at the plate, was diagnosed in June with a hairline fracture in his right hand, manager Craig Counsell confirmed Wednesday night.

Counsell said Tucker’s injury is fully healed.

“He was sore for a little while but was able to play,” Counsell said after the Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. “He had some more imaging, and it showed a small fracture that was healing.”

ESPN.com

Tucker ranked 5th in the majors in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings on the morning of June 11th. He ranked 54th this morning. During that time he hit .239/.349/360; he walked a lot but hit for little power. It’s impressive what seems like a minor hand injury can do to a player.

August 16, 2025

Wheels Off

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Zack Wheeler heads to the illjured list with a blood clot in his shoulder:

In their statement Saturday, the Phillies described the injury as a right upper extremity blood clot. The timetable for his return is unclear.

ESPN.com

Here’s wishing Wheeler a speedy recovery. He tops the Bill James Pitcher Rankings by a wide margin right now. Even with him out of action it will take a while for others to catch up.

August 9, 2025

Alumni IL

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Mariano Rivera tore his Achilles tendon during the Yankees Old-Timers game.

In his lone at-bat, Rivera singled off former teammate Andy Pettitte and easily ran to first base. During an at-bat by Willie Randolph, Rivera took a step and fell to the ground in shallow center field behind second base.

ESPN.com

I heard Roger Clemens talking about this on the radio broadcast. He’d like the name changed to the Alumni game, as he doesn’t feel like an old-timer.

July 26, 2025

Judging an Elbow

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The Yankees took Aaron Judge out of the lineup today due to an elbow injury:

The two-time AL MVP was wincing in the outfield at Toronto this week.

“Last night was struggling to throw a little bit,” Boone said.

Boone wouldn’t speculate whether the injury involved Judge’s UCL.

“Hopefully it’s something that’s manageable and we can get through it,” Boone said.

Chron.com

Judge slumped over his last eight games, so this may have been an issue before the Toronto series. His success tends to drive the team, so we’ll see how the rest pull together if Judge winds up on the illjured list.

July 8, 2025

Inside Leadoff

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Lawrence Butler of the Athletics hits a ball off the top of the centerfield wall in Sacramento. It bounded away from all the fielder, and Butler’s speed brought him around for an inside the park home run, giving the Athletics a 1-0 lead over the Braves. On the next pitch, Jacob Wilson gets hit in the hand and comes out of the game. The stadium crowd went from ecstatic to dismal.

July 5, 2025

Yankees Lose Schmidt

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Clarke Schmidt, starting pitcher for the Yankees, needs Tommy John surgery:

Schmidt is the fourth Yankees starter to land on the injured list this season. Ace right-hander Gerrit Cole underwent Tommy John surgery in March. Luis Gil, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year, hasn’t thrown a pitch this season because of a lat injury. Ryan Yarbrough, a revelation after signing with the Yankees at the end of spring training, has been on the injured list since June 22 with a strained oblique.

Yarbrough has not begun playing catch. Gil recently started throwing to hitters and won’t join the Yankees’ rotation until later this month at the earliest. The Yankees for now will need to look elsewhere for Schmidt’s replacement for a start next week before the All-Star break.

ESPN.com

It seems like every team should go into a season assuming a major injury to one of their top three pitchers and have some backup plan.

Also, Schmidt started feeling elbow soreness a month ago, but the Yankees did no tests because he was pitching well. Now he won’t be pitching at all.

June 11, 2025

Playing Hurt

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Javier Baez talks about the reason for his down years:

“Honestly, all I can say is I didn’t make any excuses when I struggled for three years,” Baez told ESPN recently. “It’s not that I wasn’t working. I was pretty much playing hurt. I didn’t want to get out of the lineup. I didn’t want to miss time. I had good energy the whole time. I didn’t have a negative attitude. It was f– –ing frustrating for sure, but I’m the same guy every day. My teammates know that.

“I kept pushing it and pushing it and A.J. [Hinch] was the one that pulled me aside and pretty much told me we have to do something about it.”

ESPN.com

A long time theme of this blog is that poor performances are best explained by some kind of injury. I would not be surprised if Patrick Corbin pitched hurt for the last five seasons. It doesn’t take much to throw off an athlete’s game.

June 7, 2025

Harper Hurt

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The Phillies lose Bryce Harper to wrist inflammation:

“It’s been long enough,” Harper said when asked how long his wrist has been bothering him. “It’s got to the point where I can’t really function on a baseball field or anything like that. So, it’s a good time for me to take some time and get it right.”

Harper said he felt pain in the wrist during a large portion of last season, when he hit 30 homers while helping the Phillies win the NL East.

“It’s gotten progressively worse (this season),” Harper said. “I felt it early in the season, and I tried to play through it as long as I could.”

Chron.com

Here’s another data point pointing to a down year caused by a nagging injury. I understand that major leaguers want to play through these injuries. I also suspect it’s almost always better to deal with them right away, although in Harper’s case the offseason didn’t seem to fix the problem. I wonder if this is related to his 2022 broken thumb.

While Harper’s production is down a bit for him, he’s still doing a great job of getting on base, that’s a talent difficult to replace.

June 6, 2025

Corbin Collateral

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Corbin Burnes of the Diamondbacks needs surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament:

In the offseason, the Orioles pursued him as a free agent. But he signed a six-year, $210 million deal with the Diamondbacks. Part of his reasoning was that he makes his home in Phoenix.

Burnes’ deal is guaranteed. So, he receives $35 million for each of the six years of the contract. It also comes with a full no-trade clause, but that clause is only guaranteed for the first two years. Burnes also has an opt-out after the 2026 season, an opt-out that he is now unlikely to use.  

SI.com

Burnes saw some velocity loss on his fastball and sinker this season after a gain last year. It could be this injury was percolating for a while.

May 25, 2025 May 22, 2025

Ruf on the Reds

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Former player Darin Ruf decided to sue the Cincinnati Reds for an unsafe field that ended his playing career:

“This didn’t need to happen,” Ruf said in a statement. “I wish it didn’t happen. Players shouldn’t have to worry about hidden hazards like that on a major league field.”

Ruf was playing first base for Milwaukee when he was injured during the Brewers’ 5-4, 11-inning victory over the Reds on June 2, 2023. In the third inning, Ruf was chasing a foul pop when his knee hit the end of the tarp roller.

According to the complaint, Ruf suffered “permanent and substantial deformities to his knee.” Ruf went on the 60-day injured list and never played in the major leagues again.

Ruf’s complaint says the end of the tarp roller was made of sharp metal and had no protective cushioning or cap.

ESPN.com

I have no idea how this might go. I could imagine that there is something in players contracts freeing teams from liability for injuries. On top of that, Ruf was in his seasonal age 36 season and producing a negative fWAR for the second season in a row. It doesn’t seem like his MLB future was all that rosy.

May 3, 2025

Knee Deep

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The Red Sox lose Triston Casas for the season after he ruptured his  left patellar tendon. Abraham Toro takes his place on the roster. This might actually turn out to be a good move for Boston. Casas hit poorly so far, while Toro is going a great job getting on base at AAA and hitting for some power. We’ll see how that translates to the majors as Toro owns a career MLB OBP of .285,

April 20, 2025

Arraez Injured

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Luis Arraez of the Padres collides with Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon, Dubon covering first. Arraez’s neck took the brunt of Dubon’s forearm. They have stabilized Arraez’s neck, and will take him off the field on a stretcher. He was out on the bunt play, moving Fernando Tatis Jr. to second base.

Here is wishing Arraez a quick recovery, hoping the injury is not as bad as it looks.

April 14, 2025

Bryant’s Back on the IL

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Kris Bryant of the Rockies goes on the illjured list, once again due to his back. It now appears to be more than an injury:

Bryant’s specific issue, lumbar degenerative disk disease, is associated with wear and tear of the spine. The 2016 National League MVP with the Chicago Cubs twice spent time on the IL last season with a back strain and missed nearly two months in 2022 because of back issues.

ESPN.com

He played 170 games for Colorado since joining them in 2022, or about 1/3 of this possible games. He’s hitting .244/.324/.370 in that time. It turned out to be a very disappointing signing.

April 5, 2025

Pitching In

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Shohei Ohtani continues to work in the bullpen as he tries to return to mound:

He incorporated splitters on Saturday, a session that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts labeled as “positive.”

“It’s a week, but then there’s also the one in between, where he touches the mound on a Thursday,” Roberts said. “And I think it’s just more trying to keep him on a similar seven-day program, and what the schedule would look (like) going out, and build from there.”

ESPN.com

The Dodgers will go with a six-man rotation when Ohtani returns. that would be okay if it allowed the starters to go deeper, but I suspect that won’t happen.

March 30, 2025

Min Max

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The Toronto Blue Jays place Max Scherzer on the illjured list due to recurring problems with the thumb:

Prior to the finale of a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Jays announced that the 40-year-old veteran was headed to the 15-day injured list with what is being described as “right thumb inflammation.”

A frustrated Scherzer said following Saturday’s start — in which he allowed a pair of first-inning homers in an eventual 9-5 Jays loss to the O’s — that he would get the issue sorted out before returning to action. Now that process has begun.

“Yeah, I’m frustrated,” Scherzer said following the game. “I want to pitch. I know I can pitch. I know I can throw the ball really well. Unfortunately, I’ve got an issue going on. It’s coming from the thumb and I’ve got to address this.

TorontoSun.com

This is the same issue that hurt Scherzer’s 2024 season. The Blue Jays and Scherzer may eventually face the situation that the problem may not go away. Age may be rearing it’s ugly head.

March 22, 2025

A Shane Shame

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Shane McClanahan of the Rays appears to have injured his pitching arm.

Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan left his final spring training start against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday with triceps tightness to his pitching arm.

McClanahan will undergo imaging and testing to determine the severity of the injury, the team announced.

ESPN.com

The Rays had named McClanahan their opening day starter. He pitched well in a very limited number of spring training game innings. He missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery.