Welcome to this week’s Injury Report! With the All-Star break upon us, the injuries were to a minimum this week. Let’s get to it!
Ronald Acuña Jr.– ACL Tear
Ronald Acuña Jr.will miss the rest of the 2021 season due to a torn ACL. Typically ACL tears are a nine-month recovery, so we will use that as our timeline for the time being. After any major surgery, things can happen that will either progress or delay Acuña’s timeline, but I fully expect him to return for most of the 2022 season.
Return Date: April, 2022
Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold (Dynasty/Keeper leagues)
Sonny Gray – Rib Cage Strain
Sonny Gray was placed on the IL before the All-Star break with a strained rib cage. I do not have any long-term concerns here and fully expect Gray back shortly after the All-Star break.
Return Date: Late July
Buy/Sell/Hold: Buy
Clayton Kershaw – Elbow Inflammation
Clayton Kershaw will be out indefinitely with elbow inflammation. The Dodgers have not announced any form of a timeline so far for Kershaw’s return. The MRI results were negative, but we are dealing with an aging veteran with elbow issues here. I’m concerned, but for whatever reason, I’m more optimistic about Kershaw than I typically am with the elbow inflammation diagnosis. We will have to keep an eye out for any updates the Dodgers have, but at this point, I’m not too worried.
Return Date: Mid August
Buy/Sell/Hold: Buy/Hold
Yu Darvish – Hip Inflammation
Yu Darvish should return shortly after the All-Star break from left hip inflammation. I am not worried about this lingering around or impacting Darvish’s performance moving forward.
Return Date: Late July
Buy/Sell/Hold: Buy
Team Updates:
- Stephen Strasburg is expected to face live hitters in the next week.
- Jack Flaherty threw a 15 pitch bullpen Monday.
- Luis Severino is expected to face live hitters soon.
- Corey Seager is nearing a return during the Dodgers’ next homestand, starting on July 19th.
- Anthony Rendon and Justin Upton are expected to return Friday.
- Matthew Boyd has recently begun playing catch, with no timetable for his return.
- Eloy Jiménez is expected to be moved to AAA soon to progress his rehab assignment.
Thanks for reading! As always, if there is someone else you have a question about, leave me a comment or find me on Twitter (@JakeRobinsonDPT). I will get to them as I’m able to. Be sure to check back next week for the latest injury report!
Featured Image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter).
Feels like this could be far more extensive. No Carlos Carrasco updates? Zac Gallen? Shane Bieber? John Means? Nick Anderson? Joe Ross? Chris Sale? Corey Kluber? We’re talking legit arms for any size league. Seems like a lot more material that could be covered here.
+1
Hey, ken! Just making sure you see my response to Guest!
Hey, thanks for the comment.
Most of these players you have mentioned have had updates throughout the past couple of weeks (Sale, Carrasco, Kluber, Bieber, and Means) and did not have big enough milestone changes or any change for me to include them this week.
Anderson and Ross were both slips on my end, which is my fault for missing those two. Anderson is still set to come back in August. I’m thinking towards the end of the month. Ross is still set to return in early August, but I’m worried about him moving forward.
Gallen should be back shortly after the break.
Carrasco had an update after the article was written that he is going out on assignment this week. It’ll be early/mid august before he returns. I wouldn’t expect him to be fully stretched out by that point either.
Agree with Guest. Your updates are helpful, but your opinion and expected returns on other pending IL stars would be great – Sale, Eloy, Seager, Carrasco, etc.
Hey Perfect! Thanks for the comment.
Check my reply to Guest about the team updates. As far as return dates here is what I’m thinking though.
Sale – mid-August
Eloy – this is tough because he is coming back way earlier than expected. But if you had to twist my arm about it, late July isn’t out of the question. I would expect early August, but it’s looking like Eloy will beat that timeline.
Seager – there hasn’t been an update in a while. The Dodgers are hoping for after the break (which is very vague), and they haven’t put a timeline on his return so I’m shooting in the dark here. I would guess early August is when he returns.
Any update on Nick Anderson?
Hey, Mozz thanks for the comment!
See my reply to Guest above! The short answer, Anderson should make it back in late July/early August.