Welcome to this week’s Injury Report!
Sonny Gray – Groin Strain
Sonny Gray will miss at least his next two starts due to a groin strain. There isn’t much to digest here other than we will have to wait and see how his body responds to treatment. I’m not expecting Gray to miss an extended period of time; look for him to return sooner rather than later.
Return Date: Late June
Buy/Sell/Hold: Buy
Shane Bieber – Shoulder Strain
Shane Bieber will be shut down for two weeks following a shoulder strain. Once Bieber starts throwing again, we will have a better timeline for his return, but at this point, I think he will miss about a month. We will keep an eye on Bieber’s progress once he starts throwing again. My worry-o-meter is 6/10 for Bieber, as he needs to let this fully recover before he returns, and hopefully, Cleveland and Bieber allow that to happen.
Return Date: Early/Mid-July
Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold
Andrew Benintendi – Rib Fracture
Andrew Benintendi will be out of commission for a while with a fractured right rib. Typically, we are looking at about a 4-8 week window of recovery, so with that, we will lean toward the 8-week timeline for Benintendi. Once he returns, I’m not worried about his performance.
Return Date: Late July
Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold
Max Muncy – Oblique Strain
Max Muncy is expected to be out for an extended period of time with an oblique strain. Like we’ve seen multiple times already this season, oblique strains are a beast and take a while to overcome. We are looking at a wide recovery window here, but I think Muncy will be out for about 4-6 weeks. When Muncy returns, there will be a week or so that his risk of re-injury is higher. Once he makes it past that point, I won’t be as worried about re-injury.
Return Date: Mid/Late July
Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold
Nick Madrigal – Hamstring Tear
Nick Madrigal has been placed on the 60-day IL and is at risk of missing the rest of the season. There is a chance Madrigal can return at the end of August, but with how quick the White Sox placed him on the 60-day IL and how the video looked, I think this is a season-ender.
Return Date: Late August
Buy/Sell/Hold: Sell
Luis Severino – Groin Strain
Luis Severino had to be helped off the field following a groin strain during his latest rehab outing. While the elbow is fine, we are looking at a delayed debut for Severino. In the best-case scenario, I don’t see Severino making his 2021 debut before August.
Return Date: Mid-August
Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold
Team Updates
- Zac Gallen threw 46 pitches in a simulated game Saturday. We are looking at an end-of-month return, but I’m still proceeding with caution. I’m worried about the long-term health of Gallen’s elbow.
- Eloy Jiménez has been cleared for baseball activities. His timeline hasn’t changed, and we are still looking at a return near the end of August.
- Mike Moustakas could be activated by the weekend.
- Jon Gray has resumed throwing; proceed with caution.
- Lance McCullers is expected to be activated today.
- Danny Duffy has resumed throwing without issue but does not have a formal timetable from the Royals. Please proceed with caution, but I’m more optimistic about Duffy than I was a couple of weeks ago.
- Kolten Wong is expected to come off the IL this week.
- Byron Buxton has made the trip to Seattle with the Twins, and he could be activated during this series.
- Jeff McNeil started a rehab assignment, look for a possible activation soon.
- Michael Conforto has resumed running and should be out of a rehab assignment soon.
- Luke Voit should be activated in about a week.
- Ramon Laureano could be activated tomorrow.
- Stephen Strasburg is waiting for his nerve irritation to subside before he resumes throwing. Expect for him to start throwing again in about two weeks.
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).
