We are now just a couple of days from Opening Day 2023 and we are all excited to set our first fantasy baseball lineups of the year. I hate to be a buzzkill here, but before you do, be sure to check out the MLB injury report. You don’t want to start the year with an injured player in your starting lineup, and if possible you want to move that player to the injured list so you can add someone to replace them from the waiver wire. If you do need a guy to add, don't miss Justin Vreeland’s waiver wire report here to help your team get off to a good start. Before you set your first lineups or right before your final drafts, let’s get to the final preseason fantasy baseball injury report. Enjoy Opening Day everyone!

 

 

MLB Spring Training Injury Updates

Juan Soto, San Diego Padres

Initially it looked like he might miss a little of the season with his oblique injury. However, Soto doubled and was on base four times in Monday’s spring game and it appears that he will be ready to go for Thursday’s season opener. I am still a bit scared that obliques are easy to reinjure, but right now it looks like all systems go for the Padres slugger to be in the lineup on Opening Day. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr., Miami Marlins

One of the top second basemen in fantasy is dealing with some arm cramping right now and has missed a couple of games with it. However, you never like to start the season with something going wrong already. At the same time, I would think if this was the regular season he would probably be in the starting lineup. There are a couple of days until Opening Day, and my bet would be that Chisholm will be out there for the Marlins. 

Kenley Jansen, Boston Red Sox

He was removed from Friday’s game after feeling light-headed and dizzy, but Jansen did say he was feeling better over the weekend. According to him he was going to pitch on Sunday, but that didn’t happen. I still don’t feel like this is anything to be concerned about, just a dehydration issue. Continue to draft Jansen as you would without this news having an impact. 

Carlos Rodon, New York Yankees

We have good news on the Rodon front as he has been throwing in an attempt to return from his elbow injury. He threw 15 fastballs last week, and then Monday he had a 30-pitch bullpen session which came out of feeling alright. He should continue to ramp up his work, and assuming he has no setbacks, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rodon join the Yankees rotation around the middle of the month. If you have a late draft, he might be a great value at his current ADP. 

Triston McKenzie, Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians young, exciting arm was pulled from his final spring start after just one inning with arm tightness. The team was calling it precautionary, but McKenzie has not been sharp at all this spring, pitching to an ERA over 7.60 and almost as many walks as strikeouts. Now he will be re-evaluated in two weeks after a strain of a muscle I’ve never heard of before. However, the initial thoughts is that he is out until June sometime so you will want to steer clear of McKenzie if you are drafting in the last couple of days. 

Joe Musgrove, San Diego Padres

The Padres pitcher continues to make progress from his fractured big toe as he has now thrown three innings in a simulated game, and on Monday he pitched in a Minor League spring training game. Everything went well in that game, and he suffered no setbacks, but he will still begin the season on the injured list. The good news is that he appears to be in line to be back in a couple of weeks and will probably only miss two or three starts. 

Luis Severino, New York Yankees

He has always had a hard time staying healthy, and the injury bug bites Severino before the season even starts this year. He is dealing with a lat strain. The Yankees starter says that he believes that they caught the issue before it became a bigger problem, and in an interview, I heard he was hopeful to only miss a couple of starts. However, Severino is not going to resume throwing until he is pain free which seems like it would hold him out longer considering the season starts in two days. I bet we are looking at May before we see him take the mound for New York. 

Xander Bogaerts, San Diego Padres

The Padres shortstop has been dealing with some wrist soreness but got a cortisone shot and only missed two days of spring. I have to admit that I don’t like this though. Wrist pain is not good, and needing cortisone in March doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy either. Bogaerts saw a big power drop off last season, and this doesn’t give me a lot of confidence. He drops down a couple of spots in the rankings with what could be a nagging injury that needs maintenance all season long. 

Wander Franco. Tampa Bay Rays

After a tough year with injuries last season, there was ample concern with Franco’s quad tightness, but his MRI came back pretty clean and he has said that he will be out there on Opening Day. This is exactly the news that you wanted to hear from the Rays stud, although I still have lingering concerns after he missed a good chunk of last year with injuries. For now, we will look at this optimistically and be happy to be able to put him into our lineups for Game 1 of the season and hope that it stays that way. 

Yoan Moncada, Chicago White Sox

The Pale Hose hot corner man left Sunday’s game with some lower back stiffness but the reports were that he was feeling better Monday morning. This is another injury I don’t like. Back issues are never good, and he has had some injury trouble in the past. Moncada plummeted down draft boards from where he was just a couple of years ago, and this situation is not the way to start the season. It could just be precaution with the season so close, but he becomes more of a corner infielder flier than a starting third baseman to target. 

Alex Cobb, San Francisco Giants

He might not be ready to go for Opening Day, but the news continues to be pretty good for Cobb. He was hit with a comebacker earlier in the spring, but he threw a bullpen session on Saturday and is moving closer to his return to the mound for the Giants. He may have to start the season on the injured list, but even if he does it looks like it will be a short stay and he should be back into your fantasy rotation by mid-April. 

Tyler Glasnow. Tampa Bay Rays

The injury report really should just be changed to the Glasnow Report considering how often this guy is hurt. His latest Grade 2 oblique strain appears to be progressing and Glasnow is throwing on flat ground from about 75 feet. From there he will move to a simulated game probably before hitting the minors for a few rehab assignments to build up his innings. He truly is made of glass and you are probably looking at about a month before we see him take the mound for the Rays. 

Mitch Haniger, San Francisco Giants

His oblique injury is progressing, but it doesn’t appear that he is going to be ready for Opening Day. He is hitting and throwing, both of which are great signs, and he is getting close to being back in the lineup for the Giants. However, obliques can be tricky and there’s no way San Francisco wants him to suffer a setback. It might be a week or at most two that you’ll have to be without him, but it doesn’t appear that Haniger will be out there when the 2023 season starts. 

Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds

He did see some game action this spring, but we also won’t be seeing Votto in the lineup on Thursday when the season starts. He is still healing from offseason shoulder surgery, and while he is close, he is not close enough to play this week and will start the year on the injured list. Votto is no spring chicken anymore at 39-years-old, and the Reds probably aren’t competing this season so it makes sense to give him a couple of weeks to heal to get ready for the six month grind. 

Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

He has become more of a DFS flier when facing bad pitching at Coors Field and far away from the second-round fantasy pick he once was, and Blackmon is not getting off to a good start with back soreness. He was able to get back in the Rockies lineup on Monday for a spring training game, so it makes sense that he will be ready for Opening Day assuming no setbacks in the next 48 hours. Blackmon is more of an injury replacement in 12 team leagues, and hopefully this isn’t an injury that impacts him all season. 

 

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