7 of MLB’s biggest injuries ahead of Opening Day
Major League Baseball players hoping to cure what ails them by Opening Day are pretty much out of runway.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres already opening play in South Korea and all 30 teams teeing it up March 28, the languid days of spring are over.
It’s officially a terrible time to get injured, with any significant ding more or less ensuring a player will miss time in games that count.
Sure, most of the looming absences aren’t as significant or extended as New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s; he’ll be out into June with a vexing elbow injury.
Yet as the exhibition season winds down, key players are succumbing or not recovering sufficiently to answer the opening bell.
TJ Friedl, Reds: Wrist fracture
It’s not easy losing your leadoff hitter and center fielder less than two weeks before Opening Day. But Friedl’s nondisplaced fracture in his right wrist, suffered while diving for a ball Saturday, will sideline him well into May. Friedl will be reevaluated in about three weeks.
It’s a key blow for a club harboring NL Central title hopes. Friedl produced a .352 OBP and 3.9 WAR in 2023. Will Benson figures to get the first crack at the temporary gig, but replacing a guy who produced both 17 bunt hits and 18 home runs a year ago is challenging.
Sonny Gray, Cardinals: Hamstring
The St. Louis Cardinals gave Sonny Gray a three-year, $75 million contract to anchor their rotation. Yet Gray will be sidelined for one of the most symbolic acts of that designation: Starting on Opening Day.
The club officially handed that assignment to veteran Miles Mikolas on Monday, one day after Gray threw a third bullpen session since suffering a hamstring strain on March 4. Gray threw 15 pitches and worked into a second simulated inning. Thursday, the club hopes he faces live batters for the first time. Hey, it’s progress.
But as anticipated, it won’t allow for a significant ramp-up to make his