While the sprint of 2020 gave urgency to the regular season, this year brought back the challenge of baseball’s marathon regular season. The longer season brings greater health challenges. We’re particularly on edge for pitchers attempting to more than double their year-over-year workload. Hamstring injuries to position players have proven to be the more drastic bugaboo in the early going, however. Regardless, less than two weeks into 2021, the landscape has already begun to shift rosters and change odds.
The defending champs just placed Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list, while MVP runner-up Mookie Betts has been out of the lineup for a couple of games now. As much as a Dodgers lineup without Bellinger and Betts will boost some heart rates, neither injury appears to be serious – for now. The concern for all injuries, of course, goes beyond the time missed.
The Diamondbacks started the year with ace Zac Gallen on the shelf, and it took only one appearance for offseason addition and candidate-to-close Joakim Soria to join him on the shelf. Starters Nick Ahmed and Kole Calhoun have been out, though both recently returned to the lineup. Gallen should return this week too, but now Ketel Marte is out with a strained hamstring. Marte’s injury hurts all the more, not only because he’s become the face of the franchise in the post-Paul-Goldschmidt era, but because he was off to a rip-roaring start to the season with a 259 wRC+ through six games.
The Padres might have the scariest injury of all this season, as the centerpiece of their organization, Fernando Tatis Jr., dislocated his shoulder at the plate. Shoulder subluxation is the technical term, but a slight tear in his left labrum is the term to make you wince. Tatis is already working his way back, but this is going to be a pins-and-needles situation for the rest of the season, not only for the Padres, but for the league, as Tatis Jr. has rapidly become the face of the “let the kids play” generation. The Padres have also dealt with injuries to Trent Grisham, Dinelson Lamet, Austin Nola, Pierce Johnson, Michel Baez, and others. The Padres offseason spending spree all but guaranteed that they have the depth to contend, but the injuries are piling up.
Bad news has not been unique to the NL West, however. The Nationals started the season with a COVID-19 outbreak, which delayed their opening series and placed nine players on the injured list on Opening Day. Patrick Corbin made his return the other night, but he was rusty, and they still have yet to see Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, Josh Harrison, Jon Lester, or Will Harris.
The Mets knew they’d be without Noah Syndergaard for the first half, but Carlos Carrasco has joined him on the injured list, as have key bullpen arms in Dellin Betances and Seth Lugo. J.D. Davis is out now as well, though Jonathan Villar should grant them cover at the hot corner until Davis returns.
In the American League, the White Sox head the list of forlorn head-shakers. Eloy Jimenez tore his pectoral late in spring, forcing the ChiSox to lean early on their questionable depth. First base prospect Andrew Vaughn and spring-training-castoff Billy Hamilton made for a patchwork timeshare, but Hamilton is out now as well. Tim Anderson, mercurial leadoff man and heartbeat of the roster, is also out with – you guessed it – a hamstring injury. How innocent it seemed when the team’s fourth outfielder Adam Engel went on the injured list at the end of Spring Training, but it’s only gotten worse since then.
Like the White Sox, the Blue Jays are a popular pick for the “it” team of 2021, but they’ve been without star pitching prospect Nate Pearson and prized offseason addition George Springer. Robbie Ray has been activated for his season debut, but closer Kirby Yates may never even throw a pitch for the Blue Jays. Yates needs Tommy John surgery, and he’ll miss the season.
The Astros got their injury heartbreak early enough to pivot before the season even started. They knew they’d be without Justin Verlander, but Framber Valdez’s season is now in doubt as well. Losing Valdez particularly smarts, given the breakout he enjoyed in 2020. They’re also without Austin Pruitt, Pedro Baez, Enoli Paredes, Andre Scrubb, and Josh James. They were able to add Jake Odorizzi, but will he be enough?
The A’s got a real punch in the gut with A.J. Puk’s injury news. It might be funny if it weren’t so tragic: Puk shined in his season debut, only to find himself back on the injured list. The same can be said for Trevor Rosenthal, a savvy offseason addition to replace departed closer Liam Hendriks without the long-term financial commitment. It took a season and a half for Rosenthal to re-calibrate after Tommy John surgery, but he seemed to have found the form that made him a star closer for the Cardinals early in his career. Oakland’s $11MM investment is now on the 60-day injured list.
The Rays lost Nick Anderson and large swaths of their bullpen, as have the Yankees, who are down a couple of southpaws and their first baseman. A strained oblique sent Adalberto Mondesi to the injured list on Opening Day. Josh Donaldson doubled in his first plate appearance – and then headed to the injured list. The Rangers have done a full line change in the bullpen, and veterans James Paxton, Dexter Fowler, and Seranthony Dominguez are all out for the year.
The first punches of the 2021 season have been thrown. Some teams have had better luck than others, but all face the reality of a long season. Injuries are not the fun part of the game, but they are a part of baseball. If nothing else, every injury provides an opportunity for somebody else. Narratives change, but baseball continues, and we crown new heroes every day. After all, Adam Wainwright’s iconic strikeout of Carlos Beltran in the 2006 postseason never happens if Jason Isringhausen isn’t injured in September, for example. Tom Brady doesn’t get a chance to start if Drew Bledsoe isn’t injured. And so on.
Which team’s new reality is most disconcerting? Which team’s early injuries have changed their long-term fortunes the most? And who did I leave out? (Poll link for app users)
Mets injuries are hurting us rn
Injuries hurt everyone at all times
Seems there are some teams that do not push stretching. Angels, Detroit,and maybe those Yanks. Gotta stretch you young Bucks and those Millionaires.
Stretch.
How do you know LAA and DET don’t emphasize stretching out?
I’m nervous about all the injuries as a whole. I feel like more players have gone down so early then I can ever remember.
What’s hurting the Mets is a weak offense and a unimpressive manager
Mets lineup is top5. Learn the difference between an offense struggling and a weak offense….
The mets have not finished in the top *10* offensively for the last 5 seasons. Let alone the “top5”, @mestfan22. I did not care to check further as that was far enough for the purpose of this post.
Perhaps you should learn the difference from what you hope to see as opposed to your club’s actual easily checked statistics.
Something to think about.
The Mets had the best Wrc+ last year and were top 5 in multiple stats. They also have one of the best 1-8 lineups in the mlb. What are you talking about.. we aren’t 5 deep like the Braves lol.
NY Mets 2020: 4.77 runs/game which was 12th in MLB. Since ’16 they have finished between 11th & 15th every season.
Better question: what are *you* talking about, @mestfan22? Not anything you can back up with anything that is a readily actual verifiable fact. Simply posting “they also have one of the best 1-8 lineups in the mlb” doesn’t make it true.
Something else to think about.
Metsfan22… how about you learn the difference between fanboy wishful thinking and reality? How can a team lead the league in avg but end up towards the bottom in runs scored…that’s a weak offense. They need to have a different approach and that means the need for a new manager and hitting coach.
The Mets were 2nd in wRC+ in 2020, 1 point short of LAD…I’d say that qualifies as top 5.
& 12th in runs.
I’d say that qualifies as top 12.
The point of the game is still scoring more runs than the opponent, isn’t it? They didn’t do it last season and with the current approach, it appears they are headed to the same results
I like a lot of the new metrics. They are not gospel or infallible, however.
When judging a team’s overall offense I always resort to runs scored as – yessir – that is still the point of the game.
mets have some good hitters. But they do need to show over the course of a season that they are – indeed – a good offense.
Jeff McNeil hitting 0.77 isn’t helping you either
Mcneils hr did help….
I’ll say this about MetsFan22 – justified or not, he’s confident in his team.
As a Mets fan and I would call it delusional rather than confident
A phenomenon that – as a Yankee fan – I’m not entirely unfamiliar with, @whynot.
We have our own versions of this, too.
White Sox because they are the most likely to push the needle
and also because it caused them to rush Vaughn.
He was going to make the team either way so it didn’t matter.
i wouldnt be so sure about that
I dont worry about Tatis playing through his injury. Im worried it will hamper his ability to play hard and if that could cause long term bad habits he will have to fix.
Friars need all hands on deck if they want to give the Dodgers a run this year. They’ll need every win they can squeak out and to be hot come September, and he’s a key part to that. Hoping he gets healthy before rushing back…
If the Padres were smart, they would shut down Tatis indefinitely. You do not want to turn a minor, small shoulder tear into a career altering injury which could very well happen if the Padres allow Tatis to go out and play if he isn’t 100% healed and back to full strength.
Case and point, Kris Bryant. KB suffered a “minor” injury to his shoulder, missed some time, came back and was ineffective for the remainder of the season and that is just for starters. The following year his shoulder injury crept back up as the season drove onto the later months.
It’s a hard decision to make but sit him down and when the doctors say he is back, give him another handful of days. It’s a complex ball and socket joint, not a simply hinge joint. It’s not worth risking your 300 million investment.
@drascoo36 you get it man. I would use gloves when handling tatis, if they handle this poorly they could be stuck with an albatross. Let him heal properly and give the dodgers a run over the course of his contract.
@drasco too sensical and logical of a take for this site.
I feel bad for Padres fans, just when it seemed like they were turning things around, they keep making decisions like this
When my labrum was torn it took 3 weeks to reattach to bone then at least three weeks to rehab and feel halfway normal. Surgery was an option but was so young that I thought I was good. To this day my shoulder isn’t right. It would be crazy to rush this kid. I have a feeling it’s going to be similar to Bellinger with some sort of procedure done in near future, especially if they rush him.
If the question had been “what early injury is giving ownership the most heartburn?” it would have to be Tatis. Even a full recovery could come with lingering consequences not just for this season but going forward. The Padres have bet so much on this player.
TA’s injury, if it lingers, will be very bad for business.
the Jays injuries are tough as they have to have almost everything fall their way, pitching wise, to get to the playoffs
Based on what? All the other all star rotations in the AL East?
If healthy, Jays wouldn’t be sitting in the 5th position in the standings as of today. Not sure why you’re taking exception to what taejonguy said as he stated the obvious.
Looking at standings now seems useful! Are they losing games so far because of their pitching or their offense?
And the comment that everything needs to go right pitching wise for the jays to make the playoffs is an opinion, not fact, and lacks complete context of their competition (which is important to consider when looking at the playoffs)
They don’t have the depth at starting pitching. That is a fact. They must be healthy there.
Again, not sure why you are taking exception to what was said and then used your opinion (not fact) regarding the AL East starting pitching. Nobody said Boston would outhit the Jays yet they have so far. Maybe because they’ve been healthier than the Jays?
I admire you for basing your opinion on stats but given were 10 days in to the season, they are useless.
Regardless of health, there is no strong rotation in the AL East, so the original comment is that everything needs to go right for them pitching wise to make the playoffs, which I believe to be wrong. They need to hit and the offense needs to carry them.
If they don’t pitch they aren’t making the playoffs. They will need the bullpen to be lights out for an entire year along with hitting if they do not pitch.
Given the first 9 games of the year, two losses by the Jays can be attributed to injury. Inexcusable to lose 2 out of 3 to a team that is poised to finish in the botton 5 or 6 in Texas. Despite the small sample size there is already evidence to suggest the Jays injuries has shown to affect them.
Make no mistake, if the Blue Jays do not have two pitchers step up with Ryu they will not make the postseason.
Dexter Fowler-halos are down to one currently terrible player/former Cardinal
Tatis’s injury for me. It can affect Padres beyond this season if it is not handled right.
Nationals are almost over their outbreak loss. Now they just gotta dig themselves out of the hole.
I’m gonna say the mariners because that duo was there last miniscule hope of making the playoffs
LOL. Dude the Mariners have ZERO chance of making the playoffs. They are at best the 4th best team in the AL West. The Astros are still loaded, The Angels are improved and Oakland isn’t as bad as their record indicates as they opened up the season against Houston twice and the Dodgers.
yeah guess your right just hoping lol
Jr- ZERO? LOL. They’re 5-4 after playing SF, CWS and MN w reinforcements on the way- AL ROY Kyle Lewis this week, Kelenic will (almost certainly) be up in 6 days. He’s a STUD, bookies fave to win AL ROY this yr. His OBA will really help. The lineup improves dramatically with those 2 when you consider Haniger is healthy, Ty France is a stud and Kyle Seager is off to another good start this yr. Dylan Moore is underrated and E White has 25-30 HR potential from the 7 hole.
They’ve dramatically improved their BP which now has 2 closers in Montero AND Graveman, a BP that played a HUGE part in taking the series Wins vs SF and MN. Yes, the Twinkies. A helluva lot needs to go right to get near a WC but zero chance is a ridiculous thing to say when you consider:
The A’s surprised people the last 2-3 years but that doesn’t mean they will do that again this year. Have you seen their pitching?
You could argue the LAA has a better lineup than the Astros and if they all stay healthy they def have the talent to win the AL W but like the Mets (+ BP issues) they always seem to find a way to make life difficult. Not sold on their pitching.
I’m also not sold on the Astros pitching especially their BP. You say loaded- loaded with what? The bottom 4 hitters in their lineup don’t exactly put fear into opposing pitchers.
Bottom line- if the M’s are hovering around .500 in June and July they have a ton of $$ to add to their young core. It may be a slight chance but it’s def not ZERO.
Any pitcher.
As a Sox fan, definitely Engel and Jimenez
How about your bullpen.
Our bullpen is fine
At this point the Yankees are going to have another Monument Park for IL stints
No one should be surprised that the Yankees have a lot of injuries. This has been going on for many years now.
I am not a medical professional but when you have guys doing bodybuilder routines in baseball it’s a recipe for disaster over tbe course of a 160 plus game season.
I know Judge only missed 2 days with “soreness” but that has to be a big red flag.
With a new 13 yr contract ,dislocation of your should for second time in 2 weeks is not good. This could linger and may need surgery.
Another Waino to Beltran curveball reference…nice. I guess trash can Morse code hadn’t been developed at that time?
If what was reported yesterday was true about Tatis Jr., I’d go with the White Sox’s injuries. Losing a bat with 40 homer potential in Jimenez is a huge blow to any team, especially one looking to secure a playoff spot this year. Then losing Anderson, who’s been 3rd in shortstop wRC+ and 5th in shortstop wOBA, is another huge blow. Not only have they lost two very key bats to their line-up, but losing essentially both of your backup OF options in Adam Engel and Billy Hamilton really takes a blow to the depth chart.
I am losing sleep over Steven Brault’s injury…… Devastating…..
Tatis for sure. They have zero shot in overtaking the Dodgers if hes unable to be himself
The Detroit Tigers – they don’t have a single good player on their entire roster.
You mean the Pirates don’t?
I’m worried more about the injuries yet to come. It’s only April 12, plenty of time for more injuries than we’ve had up until now. This will get much worse.
you sound like the dude standing on a city corner with a big sign that says “the apocalypse is coming”
I can’t even spell a pack of lips. I’m just being realistic about injuries. I know it won’t be the same absurd ratio as so far when compared to the last full season. It will eventually be closer to normal but in the meantime that will take awhile. So I see at least April and May still being more than normal, plus I wonder about towards the end of the season when fatigue sets in after coming off a 60 game season.
As a Jays fan I voted Jays, mainly because Atkins didn’t address the obvious need for starting pitching when we knew Pearson is perma injured. Yates was bad signing as he failed physical, although not that worried about it as he was a lottery ticket.
The injury to MLB and their umpires. Yesterday’s Braves came the umpiring was terrible
Tatis is disappointing and a situation they’ll have to be careful with, but the Padres really built a deep team this year. I think the White Sox had more of a “good enough” offseason and can least afford the injuries they have sustained. I’m a Blue Jays fan and think the more concerning injuries are to some of the depth pieces than the big names listed here.
Agreed, KamKid—Ha-Seong Kim’s not Tatis by any stretch but that Padres rotation is ridiculously deep. I’d be more concerned as a Rays or Blue Jays fan, whose rosters don’t seem fully equipped to handle their respective losses.
KamKid I agree. Jays media and fans pushed this false narrative on how deep the Jays SP is. So deep they went with Milone over Kay. So deep they removed the #4 (on-paper) as of today. So deep not a single team would call the Jays for their SP. Jays need to stay healthy, no question.
If you aren’t choosing the White Sox, you aren’t paying attention. That team already had zero depth before Eloy & Anderson’s injuries. Now, they have almost nothing.
Gotta go with Tatis. Hopefully his efforts improve and he doesn’t take the Machado route and pack it in once he signs the deal.
For this season, Jimenez is the biggest blow to a team so far since he’s out the whole year. But I worry about Tatis more, considering it seems to be a recurring issue and the Padres can’t really afford to have a player on that sort of contract spend half his career on the IL, regardless of how well he plays on the field.
Tatis. As someone who had a recurring partial dislocation of my shoulder for years, that isn’t something that ever really heals on its own. It just recurs more frequently over time. It’s going to require surgery eventually.
For this season, it’s the White Sox. Long term, it’s the Padres.
I voted for one of the teams (Dbacks) with a very slim chance of making the playoffs. It seems to me that the fringe candidates can least afford injuries if they are to have any hope of sneaking into the playoff picture. An additional factor is that smaller market teams don’t typically have the resources to develop quality depth for every position, so injuries at the wrong position can have an outsized impact on them as opposed to deep pocket organizations. Anyway, that’s my rationale.
I’m very concerned about Rob Refsnyder’s sprained gonad. Not enough coverage of this event.
Seriously and again, not enough attention was paid to the effect of tripling the amount of games this year (give or take) over position players, and too much about its effect on pitching staffs. And I suspect they’re going to mount.
I chose a fairly weird one. I said A’s with their pitching injuries. They live and die with their strong bullpen and sneaky SP. They seriously just don’t have that right now. It’s not even sneaky, at this point it’s just weak.
I’d love to say the Rangers btw, but they’re just not a good team. Although with Hernandez, Leclerc, Martin, Joely, and Evans in the pen, I bet we would have won like 2 more games than we already have. Our pen straight sucks.
Why would I worry about injuries? Aren’t teams supposed to be able to overcome injuries?
Have to go Padres here. They were going to compete with the Dodgers only if their stars played like stars.
Interesting ATL isn’t listed: Soroka, Chris Martin. Some thought Martin would be the closer – and still could be – but regardless he’s vital to the bullpen depth considering he’d most likely be the best RHP in a pen full of southpaws (Matzek, Minter, Smith) – and Smith struggling. Soroka should be fine, but an arm injury of any kind is troubling.
Tatis is done in 3 years. Book it.
Troy Tulowitzski-like.
My vote went to the ChiSox. Its seems it could be their year but, their lineup is suffering.
The injury that bothers me most is Julio Teheran’s. He was looking good. The Tigers string of bad off-season acquistions continue due to injury.
Want to know what is more troubling than the potential of any of these injuries? More troubling that MLB Replay Officials choose to disregard clear video confirmation that a call was wrong but chose to let that wrong call stand. Makes you wonder if MLB has a script to follow. Bohm still hasnt touched home plate, CLEARLY.
No injuries for the Indians except for brain cramp in the front office due to keeping Jake Bauers over Bobby Bradley.
They’re in first place despite this. 154 games to go!
Just want to point out that Justin Wilson returned already & is throwing well. So the Yanks are not “down a couple of southpaws” they are down one (Britton), @Mr Zencka.
For me as a 41 year old it was issues with my
Colon