MLB Injury Report – Julio Hampered by Hamstrings

Welcome to the Fantrax MLB Injury Report for Thursday, June 18, 2026. In today’s edition, the Mariners were starting to get healthy before Julio Rodriguez pulled up lame, the Braves may be forced to play without Acuna and Harris for the next little while, and the Cubs are an absolute mess on the mound, but could get some relief with both Matthew Boyd and Edward Cabrera being healthier than expected. You can read about all of this and so much more in today’s MLB Injury Report from Fantrax.

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MLB Injury Report

Julio Rodriguez – OF Seattle Mariners

Julio Rodríguez left tonight’s game with hamstring spasm, Dan Wilson just said, which first surfaced tonight on the running catch he made early. It’s a day-to-day situation.

— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) June 18, 2026

Rodriguez left Wednesday night’s game early after spasms in his hamstring began. This was apparently after he tracked down a fly ball earlier in the game. It’s unclear how serious this is, and we may not know until closer to the opening pitch in today’s game whether or not he will require time off. That being said, it feels like a safe bet to assume he will miss today’s finale, which takes place in the afternoon.

Josh Naylor – 1B Seattle Mariners

Per manager Dan Wilson, they are hoping/expecting Josh Naylor will be back in the lineup in Thursday.

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) June 17, 2026

For any worries about this being a potentially longer-term situation, it appears that those fears will be put to rest this afternoon. Stay tuned.

Ronald Acuna Jr. – OF Atlanta Braves

Weiss said Acuña is a “long way” from returning. Because the hamstring strain is in the same spot, the Braves will be more cautious than they were when Acuña missed nearly three weeks with the previous strain

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) June 17, 2026

Acuna’s injury is the same type of ailment in the same spot as last time. Most teams tend to err on the side of caution when an injury recurs, simply because they’ve seemingly learned their lesson on rushing someone back too soon. Not just that, the injury repeating itself tends to be more serious than before, as the area in question hasn’t fully healed. As such, we may not see Acuna back on the field here until after the All-Star Break, especially if he needs a rehab assignment.

Spencer Strider – SP Atlanta Braves

The #Braves today selected RHP Carlos Carrasco to the major league roster and optioned RHP Anthony Molina to Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster, the club transferred RHP Spencer Strider to 60-day injured list. Altanta also selected C Jair Camargo to the major…

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 17, 2026

This was purely a procedural move, as there was no way Strider would be back within a timeline of under 60 days. It’s also a reminder that perhaps fantasy managers might want to move on from him in fantasy leagues.

Michael Harris II – OF Atlanta Braves

Braves manager Walt Weiss says that OF Michael Harris II woke up feeling better than he thought he would. He was removed last night with lower back tightness

— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) June 17, 2026

Harris was removed from Tuesday’s game with back tightness and was arguably left out of last night’s game for precautionary reasons. While I would normally be encouraged by this development, he did miss some time earlier in June because of a back injury, and, as mentioned earlier with Acuna, when an injury recurs, teams tend to take their time. This may or may not be the case here, but it is worth monitoring. The team doesn’t have a day off until next Thursday, so there are no breaks built into the schedule for him.

Cole Ragans – SP Kansas City Royals

We have acquired RHP Randy Dobnak from the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. Dobnak has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Omaha (AAA).

LHP Cole Ragans has been transferred to the 60-Day Injured List.

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 17, 2026

Speaking of players that fantasy managers should move on from, Ragans was also transferred over to the 60-Day Injured List yesterday, as the team awaits news on his visit from the medical staff. Most nuggets of news that we have gotten regarding his status and progress have been negative, and it feels more and more like the endgame here is some sort of procedure. Just a reminder too that he had a left rotator cuff strain that he didn’t have surgery on last season. That is technically a tear, and as time goes on, the non-surgically repaired tear, which has technically healed, gets worn and worn more than ever. He may have been changing the way he throws in an effort to not have his shoulder get injured yet again. That’s more speculation here than anything, as I look at a player who was so good for a while there and then just stopped producing. This is all to say that Ragans can be dropped in redraft leagues.

Chicago Cubs – Team Update

Craig Counsell said Edward Cabrera’s hand felt good today, so he should be on a normal schedule for his next start, provided that his bullpen day goes well.

Matt Boyd set to make a rehab start (location TBD) on Saturday.

— Jared Wyllys (@jwyllys) June 17, 2026

It has been a disastrous year for all things Cubs-related on the mound, and here are two examples. First, Matthew Boyd looks to get going here, as he was so close to being activated before his setback. This could be a “one and done” situation, where he tests out his shoulder, and if it holds up, he’s good to go. As for Edward Cabrera, it’s been a mess for him all year, with various injuries to different parts of the body. He looks almost ready to go, and the team will need him, despite his 5.21 ERA this year. Chicago is a mess.