Here is the MLB Fantrax Injury Report for Thursday, April 18, 2024. Down below, you’ll see a lot of injury news on pitchers that unfortunately cannot stay healthy: Yu Darvish with his neck, Eduardo Rodriguez has his designation changed and Robert Stephenson has his season over and done with. All of that and so much more in today’s Injury Report from Fantrax.
MLB Injury Report for Thursday, April 18, 2024.
This was a promising start for Bradish, who was making his first rehab appearance. Throwing 44 pitches with that velocity was a good sign. Reports came in the day after stating that he felt great and was looking forward to making his next appearance. This was the first start and he will likely need at least two more before making his debut for Baltimore.
Robert Stephenson – RP Los Angeles Angels
The Angels announced Robert Stephenson will miss the season with an elbow injury. They’ll have more detail on him tomorrow.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) April 18, 2024
We will know more details today, but this is a very disappointing outcome. It would appear that Carlos Estevez is the clear-cut closer with not a lot of competition in sight.
Brett Baty – 3B New York Mets
The Mets are "very optimistic" that Brett Baty (tight left hamstring) will avoid the IL. He came in today feeling better than last night. "I think it just scared me," Baty said, in part because he's hurt that hamstring before.
Baty should be back in the lineup within a few days.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 17, 2024
Great news in that it would appear that Baty will avoid the Injured List. With the Mets not playing today, he will get an extra day of rest before a weekend series that he hopes to participate in at some point.
Tyler O’Neill – OF Boston Red Sox
O’Neill is doing just OK Cora said. Sounds like he won’t be back by tomorrow. He’s working out but hasn’t done anything on the field yet and continuing to get checked for concussion protocols but so far he’s cleared those tests
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) April 17, 2024
Be sure to keep O’Neill out of your lineups as it’s looking like he won’t return as expected.
Garrett Whitlock – SP Boston Red Sox
Red Sox are placing Garrett Whitlock on the IL with an oblique strain, per @bradfo.
Alex Cora expects it to be a short stint. Whitlock tried to fight them on it, but the decision was taken out of his hands.
Joe Jacques takes his spot on the roster. pic.twitter.com/VZKDH0G4d1
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) April 17, 2024
The fact that Whitlock tried to fight the team to let him play could mean that he will miss the minimum number of games and be back soon enough. Here’s hoping that his passion and desire to play don’t interfere with proper healing. All that being said, there are reports of this being precautionary in measure.
Kris Bryant – 1B Colorado Rockies
The #Rockies announced Kris Bryant has been placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to April 14) with a low back strain stemming back to a nasty crash into the outfield fence in Toronto. OF Sean Bouchard has been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque.
— Kelsey Wingert-Linch (@KelsWingert) April 17, 2024
Both Bryant and the Rockies were hopeful that the Injured List could be avoided, but alas, here we are. Bryant is a slow healer, as indicated by his plantar fasciitis issues from last year. We shall see if he will be ready when he’s first eligible to return next week.
Justin Verlander – SP Houston Astros
Justin Verlander will start Friday, Joe Espada said. Other starters will shift back a day so it would be Verlander, Blanco, Javier at Washington.
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) April 17, 2024
Be prepared.
Eduardo Rodriguez – SP Arizona Diamondbacks
Torey Lovullo said Eduardo Rodriguez was likely going to be out at least as long as his 60-day IL stint anyway:
"I want to believe he's going to get healthy and magically come back sooner than later. But I don't think that's going to happen. We're going to slow play this."
— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) April 17, 2024
The team’s slow playing his injury, and was a key reason for this transfer over to the 60-day Injured List. Lovullo also said later on that he expects Rodriguez to return sometime in June.
Yoan Moncada – 3B Chicago White Sox
Yoán Moncada will rehab his injury in Arizona until he’s ready to get back into game action.
“I’m not happy or comfortable with what is going on because I prepared to play the full season and unfortunately that won’t happen. But knowing that I’m coming back, it gives me peace.”
— Vinnie Duber (@VinnieDuber) April 17, 2024
Moncada was originally set to miss the remainder of the season but now seems poised to return at some point past the All-Star Break.
Yu Darvish – SP San Diego Padres
Yu Darvish has been placed on the 15-day IL with neck tightness.
RHP Logan Gillaspie has been recalled.Darvish was due to start Saturday against the Blue Jays.
— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) April 17, 2024
Darvish said that his neck started hurting just before his last start. He said that it wasn’t an overall bad feeling, but this designation gives him two weeks to get better.
Jake Cronenworth – 1B San Diego Padres
Mike Shildt says that Jake Cronenworth "walked out without any real discomfort" yesterday, and that the team is "mindful and hopeful that it won't be a long-term situation."
Shildt: "It's in a unique spot, because it's not necessarily the calf…it kind of leaks into the… pic.twitter.com/0fDfi8ovGg
— Sammy Levitt (@SammyLev) April 16, 2024
Interesting comments were made here the other day. Shildt indicated that Cronenworth’s injury is not necessarily a calf injury, but perhaps more of a hamstring injury. He also noted that the team is still in the process of figuring things out. While the team doesn’t foresee this as a long-term issue, it is somewhat concerning that all is not known and that it could be a multiple-body-part issue. All that being said, the team hopes that with today’s day off, he will be ready to go for the weekend.
Jameson Taillon – SP Chicago Cubs
Jameson Taillon will start tomorrow for the #Cubs. His first start of the season after suffering a low back strain during spring training.
— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) April 17, 2024
Be prepared.
Gerrit Cole – SP New York Yankees
Gerrit Cole will play catch again today in New York, his first time doing so on back-to-back days. Aaron Boone said there is no set date for Cole to get on a mound as he continues to build stamina.
— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) April 17, 2024
Cole continues to slowly progress forward and succeed with every step he takes. Throwing on back-to-back days is a big way to move forward and will only help him as he builds himself up to a starter’s workload. Keep in mind that none of this has in any way shape or form moved his debut date closer to what it is.