Injury Report: August 18

Welcome to this week’s Injury Report! 

 

Willson Contreras – Knee Sprain

 

Willson Contreras has resumed some light baseball activities since landing on the IL last Thursday. Resuming baseball activities this quickly is an encouraging sign that Contreras can return sooner rather than later. But, given the Cubs’ record, I wouldn’t be surprised if they take it slow and push back Contreras’ return. 

 

Return Date: Late August/Early September 

Worry-o-meter: 2

 

Jesse Winker – Intercostal Strain

 

Jesse Winker is out with an intercostal strain, but the Reds don’t believe he will be out more than the minimum 10 days. 

 

Return Date: Late August 

Worry-o-meter: 1

 

Mookie Betts – Hip Bone Spur

 

Mookie Betts will be on the shelf for the time being while he tries to decrease his hip pain. To keep this brief, I fully expect Betts to return this year and for him to have surgery in the offseason. When Betts returns, you can expect him to require more rest days and play at about 80-90%. The good news for those of you who hold Betts in keeper/dynasty leagues, the surgery this offseason should alleviate the issue for 2022. 

 

Return Date: Late August 

Worry-o-meter: 8 (2021), 2(2022)

 

Michael Pineda – Oblique Strain

 

Michael Pineda has hit the IL with an oblique strain. This isn’t something we haven’t seen often this season, so we can expect Pineda to be out for 6-8 weeks. At this point, Pineda is a drop in redraft leagues. I don’t see him returning in time to contribute much for the rest of the 2021 season. 

 

Return Date: Late September 

Worry-o-meter: 6

 

Javier Baez – Back Spasms

 

Javier Baez hit the IL with back spasms, but I don’t expect him to miss much time. Baez has already begun taking grounders and partaking in infield drills. Back spasms are not that concerning, just more of an annoyance to deal with as a fantasy owner. I don’t expect this to impact his performance once Baez can return off the IL. 

 

Return Date: Late August 

Worry-o-meter: 2

 

Yu Darvish – Back Tightness

 

Much like Baez, I don’t expect Yu Darvish to miss much time with back tightness. There isn’t much to see here. Once Darvish comes off the IL, slot him back into your lineup with confidence. 

 

Return Date: Mid/Late August 

Worry-o-meter: 3

 

Joe Ross – UCL Sprain

 

With a partially torn UCL, Joes Ross is expected to be out for the rest of the 2021 season. At this point, Ross is expected to try conservative treatment before deciding on surgery or not. I fully expect Ross to undergo Tommy John during the offseason before Spring Training. This injury has put his 2022 season in doubt. 

 

Return Date: Spring Training 2023

Worry-o-meter: 10

 

Team Updates: 

• Ian Anderson has had a successful second rehab start.
• Huascar Ynoa was activated on Tuesday. Start with confidence.
• Yasmani Grandal has been transferred to Triple-A to continue his rehab assignment. We are about a week away from seeing Grandal return. 
• Shane Bieber has been cleared to throw a bullpen this week. 2-3 weeks away from a rehab assignment. 
• Matthew Boyd will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Thursday. 
• Alex Bregman is expected to restart his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land this week. I expect Bregman to return a week after restarting his assignment. 
• Adalberto Mondesí will stop swinging from the left side due to scar tissue build-up.
• Clayton Kershaw started playing catch for the first time since hitting the IL. 
• Pablo Lopez has started live BP sessions. We are looking at Lopez to return in the next 3-4 weeks. 
• Jacob deGrom has been shut down from throwing for two weeks. Worry-o-meter up to an 8. I’m beginning to doubt if deGrom will return this year. 
• Luis Severino was scratched from his rehab assignment with shoulder tightness. Worry-o-meter at 10 for Severino, don’t expect Severino to return this season. 

 

Thanks for reading! As always, if there is someone else you have a question about, leave me a comment or find me on Twitter or Instagram (@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).