Fantasy Baseball Injury Report Week 8: Blake Snell, Oneil Cruz, & More

Throughout the entire 2025 Major League Baseball season, I’ll have you covered here at Fantasy Alarm with the fantasy baseball injury report. The fantasy baseball injury report this week features some notable names, including Blake Snell and Oneil Cruz. Most leagues have already had their fantasy baseball waivers run, but in case your league allows for daily moves, be sure to read on to learn more about some notable MLB injuries and the corresponding fantasy impact. Also, check back later this week for the fantasy baseball injury report update ahead of this weekend’s games!
Fantasy Baseball Injury Report This Week
This week’s MLB injury report unfortunately contains some less-than-optimal news on Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Blake Snell, and there’s some concern around the likes of Oneil Cruz and Anthony Santander. On the other hand, Brandon Woodruff and Clayton Kershaw are expected to make their season debuts this week. Other notable players featured in the injury report this week include Jose Altuve, Casey Mize, and Ian Happ.
As you prepare to finalize your fantasy baseball lineups for the upcoming week, don’t forget to take a look at James Grande’s best waiver wire pickups and tune in to the Caught Stealing Podcast later this week with Howard Bender and yours truly for all things fantasy baseball!
MLB Injury Report: Starting Pitchers
Blake Snell, Los Angeles Dodgers - Shoulder
Well, this doesn’t seem too good… Snell still isn’t throwing, and even worse, there’s still discomfort in his pitching shoulder.
Dodgers starter Blake Snell, who was supposed to begin throwing this road trip, is still feeling shoulder discomfort and will see Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday. Tyler Glasnow, who has begun playing catch, will also be examined
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 11, 2025
Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers - Toe/Knee
Kershaw will make his season debut on May 18th when the Dodgers take on the Angels.
Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers - Groin
Peralta is healthy and will start tonight (Monday).
Casey Mize, Detroit Tigers - Hamstring
The good news is that Mize’s arm is healthy, so while he’s on the IL rehabbing his hamstring, he can continue to throw and keep his arm in shape.
George Kirby, Seattle Mariners - Shoulder
Kirby will make at least one more rehab start before being activated from the IL. We should see him back with the Mariners within the next two to two or so weeks.
Final line for George Kirby in his 2nd rehab start:
3IP, 4H, 3R, 2BB, 5K, 54 pitches, 36 strikes. Fastball 95-97. pic.twitter.com/ZWXqQ1JUme— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) May 11, 2025
Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers - Shoulder
Don’t fret about Woodruff’s last rehab appearance being short. That was by design, and his next start will be later this week with the big league club. As the post below mentions, Woodruff’s velo was down a bit…
Brandon Woodruff's final (scheduled) rehab start is over.
He went 2.1 innings, striking out three and allowing one run. It was scheduled to be a shorter outing. Fastball velo was a couple ticks down from his 92-93 average during the rehab stint up to this point. pic.twitter.com/3ja6cLBQzD— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) May 11, 2025
Walker Buehler, Boston Red Sox - Shoulder
Barring any setbacks, Buehler is expected to return to the Boston rotation in about a week and a half when the Red Sox take on the Mets.
MLB Injury Report: Hitters
Oneil Cruz, Pittsburgh Pirates - Back
Cruz pulled up a bit late in Saturday’s game, and back tightness kept him out of the lineup on Sunday. Consider him day-to-day at the moment.
Forgot to tweet this earlier, but GMBC provided a health update on Oneil Cruz prior to today's game:
"It’s a day to day thing at this point. We don’t have a full update yet, because he was going to go through some stuff and see how he felt. He felt a little tightness in that…— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) May 11, 2025
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros - Hamstring
Altuve is day-to-day with tightness in his right hamstring.
DJ LeMahieu, New York Yankees - Calf
The Yankees are expected to activate LeMahieu at some point during the current series with the Seattle Mariners.
Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs - Oblique
Happ was able to finish the game after it was noted that he felt some discomfort after a swing. The reports are that this isn’t serious, and he’s considered day-to-day.
#Cubs Ian Happ played catch and took swings today. He’s considered day to day but there’s a chance he’s back in the lineup as soon as tomorrow.
— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) May 11, 2025
Romy Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox - Quad
Gonzalez was the replacement for Triston Casas, but now Gonzalez heads to the IL with a quad contusion.
Anthony Santander, Toronto Blue Jays - Shoulder
The hope is that Santander can avoid a trip to the IL, but he’s batting some left shoulder soreness. Addison Barger is a name to watch, as the Blue Jays really have no reason to take him out of the lineup while Santander is unavailable.
Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox - Knee
Some knee soreness has popped up for Robert, and the phrase “normal wear and tear” has been thrown around. I think I’d have some general soreness playing for the White Sox, too, especially if I was the center of attention for contenders…
Kris Bryant, Colorado Rockies - Back
Bryant’s lumbar degenerative disk disease sounds a bit scary, and he had an ablation procedure to try to help with the pain. Return is still TBD with no clear timetable.
Kris Bryant’s ablation procedure on his back went smoothly Thursday in Santa Monica.
Bryant will begin building up in two weeks in hopes of returning in 2025.
“I just felt like this is the best path over to getting me back to a good baseline and working from there.” pic.twitter.com/gd4FOBqnRk— Patrick Lyons (@PatrickDLyons) May 10, 2025
Ezequiel Tovar, Colorado Rockies - Hip
Tovar began a rehab assignment late last week, and the Rockies should be excited to get him back in the lineup, even though he had a slow start to the season. The last game Tovar played was April 15th, and if you look at the numbers from April 16 on, Colorado shortstops have put forth a .243 wOBA and 37 wRC+.
Lane Thomas, Cleveland Guardians - Wrist
At some point this week, Thomas will head out on a rehab assignment. He last appeared in a game on April 19th, and he opened the year with a .156/.188/.178 slash line across 13 games.
Player News
Giants released OF Vaun Brown.
Brown, a 10th-round pick in 2021, had a fantastic debut that summer and in hitting .346/.437/.623 with 23 homers and 44 steals in A-ball in 2022, but he never has managed to conquer Double-A since. He was hitting .247/.347/.282 in 32 games there this season.
MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo suggests that Mets RHP Nolan McLean “could play a key role in the upcoming pennant race.”
DiComo didn’t mention what role McLean would play, but with Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea coming off the injured list last week, it’s more likely McLean would help the Mets out of the bullpen. The 23-year-old has a 2.52 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 65/26 K/BB ratio in 60 2/3 innings at Triple-A Syracuse since being promoted after just five starts at Double-A to begin the season.
The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports that free agent RHP David Robertson is throwing for interested teams “within the next week.”
Robertson pitched for the Rangers last season, posting a 3.00 ERA in 72 innings with a 99/27 K/BB ratio. From 2022-24, the 40-year-old averaged 63 appearances per season with a 2.82 ERA, so he has proven that he still can be a quality reliever at the big league level. While many teams were interested in Robertson earlier in the season, the veteran held firm to his contract demands and, as Sammon reports, “clubs failed to meet his asking price.” With the season nearing a close, Robertson’s salary demands are likely to be more acceptable to contenders, so it would not be a surprise to see him sign with a team by the end of the month.
Jonny DeLuca (shoulder) is starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday in the Florida Complex League.
The outfielder had his rehab assignment moved to Triple-A Durham back on May 24th and then experienced a setback a few days later. It seems that the 27-year-old feels healthy enough the get back into game action. It will likely take a few weeks for him to get his rhythm and timing back, but with Jake Mangum, Josh Lowe, and Chandler Simpson all playing well, and both Jose Caballero and Christopher Morel filling in the outfield as well, it’s unclear what kind of role DeLuca might return to.
Athletics drafted RHP/DH Itsuki Takemoto in the 19th round of the 2025 MLB Draft.
Takemoto is an interesting story because, like his fellow countryman Rintaro Sasaki, he decided to skip the Nippon Professional League Draft in 2022 and leave Japan for the United States instead of playing professionally in college. Takemoto played two seasons at the University of Hawaii, posting a 5.16 ERA in 104 2/3 innings while also focusing on weight training and building muscle. While the results weren’t there for the 21-year-old in college, his ultimate result in being drafted could make this pathway more common in the future.
Keibert Ruiz (concussion) has begun hitting off a tee.
Ruiz was placed on the concussion IL on July 8 and had previously been on the concussion list in late June when a foul ball bounced off the back of the Petco Park dugout wall and struck him in the head. The catcher has shown signs of improvement, is working out with the team, and has progressed to hitting off a tee. There’s no word yet on an exact timeline, but he seems to be trending in the right direction.