Injury Notes: Lagares, Rodon, Gray, Morse

Here are some updates on some injury situations throughout baseball…

• Juan Lagares left today’s Spring Training game with a left oblique strain, according to Newsday’s Marc Carig and other reporters.  The former Gold Glove winner is slated is slated to play a valuable reserve role for the Mets this season, particularly since Curtis Granderson is a defensive question mark in center field.  While the severity of his strain isn’t yet known, oblique issues can tend to linger, putting his Opening Day status in jeopardy.  If Lagares has to miss time, the Mets would be left with inexperienced center field options like Michael Conforto and Jose Reyes backing up Granderson.
• White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon, suffering from bicep tightness, got some good news when an MRI revealed no structural damage, CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes tweets.  Rodon will still visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache to get a second opinion and hopefully confirm that the injury isn’t serious.  Sox GM Rick Hahn said yesterday that Rodon will likely begin the season on the DL since the team wants to be as cautious as possible with their young southpaw.
• An MRI on Jon Gray’s toe didn’t reveal any bad news, and the Rockies right-hander tells media (including Nick Groke of the Denver Post) that the injury that forced him to leave Friday’s game is a minor one.  Gray said he expects to make his Opening Day start.
• Michael Morse isn’t yet planning to retire, as the veteran tells The San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman and other reporters that he’ll stay in camp to rehab his hamstring injury and then report to the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate.  Morse had stated earlier this winter that he’d hang up his spikes if he didn’t break camp with the Giants, and he indeed seemed likely to make the roster before getting hurt.  “I’m going to get healthy.  I’m going to play games with the mentality of getting ready for the big leagues,” Morse said.  “At that point, if the team is 20-0, I know I probably won’t get called up and then it’s see ya’.  If they need me, great.”