Nic Civale is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and former NCAA Division I Baseball player. He combines his knowledge of anatomy and physiology with that of baseball mechanics to provide expectations for players who will be rehabbing this offseason. Utilize The MLB Injury Report to start your planning for 2021 drafts and keeper decisions.
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MLB Injury Report: The Stars are Falling
As the 2021 season begins, we are all filled with optimism about our favorite teams and players. It’s downright exhilarating and well-deserved! As always, I have the responsibility to be the bearer of bad news and bring you up to date on injuries around the league. Not only will I be commenting on the injuries themselves, but what to look for and expect as the athletes return from their time on the bench. We’ve already been cursed with some BIG name injuries in the young season, sadly. Let’s dive into some of them, talk possible return dates, and a bit about physiology and biomechanics!
Fernando Tatis Jr.
The face of MLB The Show 21 and maybe the new face of MLB scared us all a few nights back. For those who haven’t seen the injury, Tatis swung hard through a nasty Anthony DeSclafani slider and subluxed his left shoulder joint. A subluxation is categorized as a sudden dislocation, followed by an immediate return to the appropriate, or nearly appropriate anatomical position. Think, a temporary or momentary dislocation.
However you want to word it, it’s not good. The ligaments and tendons surrounding the shoulder joint take a beating with this type of injury, getting violently stretched to maintain the structural integrity of the joint. In the time of subluxation, the head of the humerus (or the ball of the ball-and-socket joint) and the glenoid fossa (the socket) are no longer articulating as they should be. The ‘ball’ is essentially free-floating from the ‘socket’. Even though this phenomenon is temporary, it hurts like heck and puts a tremendous stretch on all soft tissues involved.
So the follow-up question is, what does he do now?
Well, the Padres and Tatis are currently electing to choose the path of rest and rehab to remedy the issue. This is not to say Tatis won’t eventually need surgery, but for now, he will be placed on the 10-Day IL. My initial thoughts on this are very positive! The damage that was sustained on rotator cuff musculature and associated tendons must have been minimal. Additionally, there must not be any ligament tears or labra tearing significant enough to warrant surgery.
As a physical therapist, I’m always going to be partial towards attempting rehab before going right to surgery. There’s so much that can be done with shoulder injuries that is based on postural retraining, muscle strengthening, and manual therapy. Tatis undoubtedly is dealing with an immense amount of inflammation at this time, so therapy will be extremely light. Simple range of motion to help mobilize the swelling out of the shoulder. As rehab progresses, we will know more about how Tatis is responding to baseball activities. Just because surgery is apparently avoided for now doesn’t mean he’s out of the clear. He could return to tee work in a month and realize he can’t tolerate it… or more optimistically, he could also be swinging off of live pitching in that same amount of time.
Ultimately, I highly expect Tatis to spend much more than 10 days off the field. There are 340 million reasons the Padres should play this rehab more conservatively. Of course, if they do go the route of surgery, they’ll want to do it so Tatis doesn’t miss any of the 2022 season. If I had to bet on it, I’d say Tatis may be back to gameplay in June or July. He will likely be playing with a brace around that left shoulder. I will take this opportunity to mention this is ANOTHER good reason to have the DH in the National League because it is difficult to predict if San Diego will run Tatis back out at SS right away.
I will give this injury more coverage as Tatis progresses through rehab with updates on his prospects. One thing is for sure for fantasy managers though; you cannot drop him! Hold tight for now, and take note of how quickly Tatis returns to tee work and on-field drills. More to come on this topic soon!
Zac Gallen
Gallen is dealing with a stress fracture of the radial head of his throwing arm. The radial head is the head (or rounded top) of the radius, the lateral bone of a forearm. This injury came, reportedly, from swinging a bat and potentially getting jammed on a pitch during spring training. There have been reports that this may have happened while he was practicing off of a pitching machine. Gallen is truly one of the game’s best young arms, but this injury is not something that should affect him long-term.
He will likely need to undergo the standard 6 to 8 weeks of rest and recovery, but due to the fact that he will be throwing lightly throughout this time period, his ramp-up to game speed will not require starting from scratch. In fact, it’s being reported that Gallen completed a 67 pitch bullpen on Thursday, 4/8/21! Excellent news indeed. Gallen will likely return sometime in late May, or June if everything goes well and he does not experience any setbacks. When this portion of his arm has healed, he should no longer feel any pain or experience any limitations with the muscles of his lateral forearm.
It is worth noting, that the structure in the surrounding muscles has nothing to do with the UCL and Tommy John surgery. Expect Gallen to return to his vintage self when he is reinstated from the IL sometime early in the summer.
Eloy Jimenez
The South Side slugger has torn the tendon of his pectoralis major or more commonly referred to as the ‘pec’. Surgical repair has been made and Eloy is already on the road to recovery. Sadly, in re-draft leagues, there’s not much of a decision to make about managing your roster. Unless you have an empty IL slot and it never ends to be used for another player, you should be dropping Eloy. In the very best-case scenario, he may return by September. I know some reports say the range is 4-6 months, but for a man with his type of power and strength, I can’t imagine he returns with more than 3 or 4 weeks left in the season. Some athletes have made miraculously quick recoveries in the past! But I’m not betting on this one. Rehab is fairly standard, and Eloy will have a lot of strengthening to do while having to be very careful to not overload the reattached tendon. Dynasty managers should only consider moving him for win-now situations in which you can get a player to put you over the top. Eloy will remain a top asset in 2022.
Trevor Rosenthal
The A’s new closer is debating whether or not he needs to have thoracic outlet surgery done in the wake of shoulder issues. He’s also reported some symptoms of pain and tingling down the arm a bit. This is a scary surgery for pitchers. The surgery is meant to release pressure on some of the nerves that run down from the neck to the hand. With this surgery, the success rate is not particularly high, because often times it is difficult to determine what the cause of the symptoms is. There is a chance Rosenthal returns shortly if he decides against surgery and the symptoms abate. However, the protocol for return to pitching involves 12 weeks of combined rest and rehab. Depending on the decision, Rosenthal may miss about 3 months.
Tim Anderson and Ketel Marte – Two of my favorite players
One of the most frustrating injuries to see for a speedy ballplayer is a hamstring strain. Anderson is currently on the IL with one, retroactive to April 5. He should be expected to miss at least 2-3 weeks as his hamstring heals and he gets ready for playing SS and running the bases. I’d think Chicago will make sure he is completely healthy before risking an early return early in the season, despite their need for their stars to show up in the absence of Eloy Jimenez.
Marte currently is dealing with a similar situation to Anderson. He sustained a right hamstring strain while hustling down the line to first base on Wednesday. The severity of the strain has not been reported at this time, but I’d expect Marte to miss at least 2-3 weeks as well, especially after seeing the pain he was in after the injury.
Adalberto Mondesi
Young Mondesi has got to be the most polarizing player to roster in fantasy baseball. He’s a potential league-winner, and a potential sinkhole due to his world-class speed, crazy-high draft cost, and poor contact skills. Currently, he is dealing with an oblique strain. These injuries usually take about 4-6 weeks to return from, but once healed should not affect Mondesi’s speed. Similar to George Springer, we need to wait to see when Mondesi is facing live pitching before we can start planning to prepare our lineups for him.
Cody Bellinger
The Dodgers’ young lefty bat may be heading to the IL after injuring his calf on a close play while running to first. He was cleated in the calf by the covering pitcher, but the calf hasn’t gotten much better. Don’t be surprised if he’s on the IL by the end of this week and the Dodgers make some roster moves.
Josh Donaldson
Once again, I find myself writing about Josh Donaldson, and I’m not happy about it. The veteran just can’t stay healthy. Soft tissue injuries have plagued Donaldson in recent years, but instead of the usual calf injury, this one seems to be a hamstring strain. Donaldson’s only healthy season in the previous 4 seasons remains 2019 when he surged with the Braves. Given his history, Donaldson is always a chance to land on the IL. If you have room for him there, save him for now.
Elieser Hernandez and AJ Puk
Hernandez is dealing with what was diagnosed as biceps inflammation. He is currently waiting for MRI results to determine the cause of his shoulder discomfort. I’ve said it in previous articles, but latissimus dorsi (“lat”) tendinitis is often misdiagnosed as biceps tendinitis due to the tendinitis proximity of the two structures. MRI results will be crucial in determining if we need to be worried about this being a recurring lat injury from 2020.
A.J. Puk was also diagnosed with a biceps injury in his throwing arm (L). The Athletics have reported his injury is a strain, but have not specified on the grade. We will be awaiting an update on a timetable in the next few days.
Luke Voit
Luke Voit underwent a meniscus repair after suffering a partially torn meniscus in Spring Training. The Yankees project him to return in May, but a normal return to play window for meniscus repair may take him until early June before he returns. This will be an injury to monitor as we approach May. For now, see if you can survive with Voit on your IL.
Trent Grisham
Grisham has been dealing with a hamstring strain that initially was thought to be a potential ‘day-to-day’ injury. However, since ending up on the IL, there has been no set date for his return, although the Padres expect him back sometime in April
Ke’Bryan Hayes
Hayes continues to deal with a wrist injury that he suffered in Spring Training. There are no indications that this injury is serious, and he has been tracking to make his 2021 debut sometime in the next couple of weeks.
George Springer
Springer, dealing with a grade II oblique strain, now has experienced tightness in his right quad. MRI results are currently pending, but this could delay his potential return to play this week.
Sonny Gray
No official timetable for return yet after Gray sustained a vague back injury, but he has thrown 60-pitch bullpens and was asking to throw more pitches. He’s chomping at the bit to get back in, but the Reds have not released a date for return yet.
Want to know who to replace your injured players with? Check out Mick “The Mystic” Ciallela’s 2021 MLB Rankings. Mick was named FANTASYPROS’ NO. 1 RANKED ANALYST FOR 2020!
Fantasy Baseball Rankings from FantasyPros’ No. 1 Ranked Analyst for 2020
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