Here is the Fantrax MLB Injury Report for Friday, March 29, 2024. Inside, you’ll see the latest on Royce Lewis’ MRI, Jordan Romano’s elbow inflammation, and Max Scherzer’s surprising progression. All of that and more in today’s Injury Report from Fantrax.
MLB Injury Report for Friday, March 29, 2024
Royce Lewis – 3B Minnesota Twins
Royce Lewis had an MRI and they are awaiting results of the imaging.
He described the injury as feeling like a cramp and displayed his usual positivity, even in the face of another setback.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) March 28, 2024
Lewis injured himself while rounding second base as he limped his way over to third. After the game he was sent for an MRI and the team is waiting for the results. Manager Rocco Baldelli said the team would take their time to evaluate things and go from there. The team is off today, so it’s quite possible that we won’t know what the next step is until tomorrow. Any time missed will be difficult to swallow for fantasy owners.
Max Kepler – OF Minnesota Twins
Rocco Baldelli said Max Kepler had an X-ray, which came back negative.
They'll see how he's moving around after the off day.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) March 28, 2024
Kepler fouled a ball off of his right leg but finished his at-bat. He was then removed from the game and sent for an X-ray, which came back negative. Consider him DTD for now.
Jordan Romano – RP Toronto Blue Jays, Erik Swanson – RP Toronto Blue Jays
Promising news here on Romano, who will be counted on for saves this year by the Blue Jays. It sounds like the team expects him back by mid-April, though the word “could” used in the description makes it nowhere near a lock for that to happen. Swanson, on the other hand, will require additional time away to be built back up.
Nick Senzel – OF Washington Nationals
This was an unfortunate fallout from the Nationals’ warmup, as Senzel misplayed a ball and broke his thumb. He was slated to be in the lineup and took a roster spot from Trey Lipscomb. Now, it would appear that the rookie could be the team’s everyday third-baseman, as he was called up and will be there when Washington faces Cincinnati.
Justin Steele – SP Chicago Cubs
Justin Steele was has a left hamstring strain and will get an MRI tomorrow.
Counsell said Steele will likely go on the injured list. Counsell didn’t want to speculate on whether Steele will only need a minimum IL stint.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) March 29, 2024
Steele will get an MRI this morning to see the damage done. It’s unfortunate because he was cruising in his first game of the season before the injury. We should know more later today as to the length of time missed here, but chances are that he will miss the next two weeks of action.
David Bednar – RP Pittsburgh Pirates
Derek Shelton said David Bednar was unavailable today as part of his rehab from the lat issue.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) March 29, 2024
The situation here is one to monitor, but the likelihood of it all stems from Bednar not being properly ramped up. He hasn’t been placed on the Injured List, so perhaps he’ll need a bit more time before he’s ready to go. He was limited to just two appearances in Spring Training.
Max Scherzer – SP Texas Rangers
Max Scherzer threw a bullpen on Tuesday. He said his arm is feeling good, described this period as “early February” for him if he didn’t have the rehab.
Said there’s still hurdles to jump through, but said he respects the process of the rehab he’s going through.
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) March 28, 2024
This was an interesting nugget that was seemingly lost in the hectic Opening Say schedule. Scherzer himself said that his current stage of progression puts him in an “early February” type of recovery period. While he has a lot of boxes to check off, this would put him along for a late May debut, which is much earlier than originally projected. Additionally, he has not been placed on the 60-day Injured List, and there are no plans to do so such a thing. While that’s quite optimistic, it’s important to also remember that he is 39 years old and that his body takes time to do the things it was once able to do so quickly.
Eduardo Rodriguez – SP Arizona Diamondbacks
Torey Lovullo said E-Rod could throw off a mound within the next 5-7 days. Called his progress so far “very encouraging.”
— Theo Mackie (@theo_mackie) March 28, 2024
Rodriguez has been placed on the 15-day Injured List, but it doesn’t appear that he will be there for too long. He said that he felt great the day after the injury happened. Still, he will need to build himself up. With Jordan Montgomery also in their rotation, the Diamondbacks can afford to take the slower and more cautious route with Rodriguez.
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