MLB injury report for Monday, April 24

At this point, the first day of the 2023 MLB season that doesn’t give us some reason for concern regarding a big-name starting pitcher will be cause for an immediate national holiday. Sunday it was Yu Darvish’s turn, although the San Diego Padres are hopeful it’s not too big of a deal. The Monday, April 24 edition of the MLB injury report has all the latest on Darvish, Justin Verlander, Sandy Alcantara and everyone else around the league.

MLB injury report: Monday, April 24

Yu Darvish (hamstring), San Diego Padres — Exhale, San Diego. Darvish left his start on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks with what seemed to be some sort of leg discomfort, and it seemed as though a Padres season in which just about everything has gone wrong found one more pothole to drive into. Thankfully, though, Darvish and the team are optimistic:

The Friars just got Joe Musgrove and Fernando Tatis Jr. back and are desperate for a spark to stay in the NL West race.

Sandy Alcantara (biceps), Miami Marlins — Initial reports on Alcantara were positive on Saturday, and the reigning NL Cy Young winner played catch on Sunday with no complications. He’ll throw a bullpen Monday and is still tentatively scheduled to start against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.

Logan O’Hoppe (shoulder), Los Angeles Angels — Man, this is a bummer, both for baseball fans everywhere and for Angels fans hoping that their team can somehow hold on to Shohei Ohtani. O’Hoppe is indeed facing the worst-case scenario with his shoulder: He’ll need labrum surgery that will keep him out for four to six months. Max Stassi should be back relatively soon, but O’Hoppe is among the best young catchers in the game and the best lineup protection Ohtani and Mike Trout have at the moment. Jonah Heim or Shea Langeliers would make sense for fantasy baseball owners who suddenly have a roster hole to fill.

Justin Verlander (shoulder), New York Mets — We inch ever closer to Verlander’s debut in a Mets uniform:

Returning against the Detroit Tigers adds some particularly fun narrative juice (and a plum matchup). Given the way Tylor Megill and David Peterson have been throwing the ball for New York recently, JV can’t get back soon enough.

Tim Anderson (knee), Chicago White Sox — The White Sox were so impressed by Anderson’s workouts this weekend that the team anticipates sending him out on a rehab assignment at some point this week. He likely won’t need more than a handful of games to get ready, and it’s desperately needed for a Chicago team that’s gone 2-9 without its table-setter in the lineup.

Tony Gonsolin (ankle), Los Angeles Dodgers — Some sorely needed rotation help is on the way for L.A., as Gonsolin has emerged from his rehab stint with no setbacks and is currently pencilled in to start Wednesday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 28-year-old is a must-add in all fantasy leagues after his All-Star turn in 2022 and will do wonders for your team’s ratios.

Carlos Rodon (forearm/back), New York Yankees — Aaron Boone told reporters the words every Yankees fan has wanted to hear before Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays: “Back-wise, he’s fine.” Rodon resumed throwing this weekend after his CT scan came back negative and his back symptoms apparently began dissipating. That puts him back on his original program, in which the lefty was just about to progress to throwing bullpens — after which will come live BP and then, eventually, a rehab assignment. The middle of May still seems doable.

Kyle Hendricks (shoulder), Chicago Cubs — Hendricks, meanwhile, is looking like he’s on around the same timetable:

He’ll probably need multiple starts since he missed Spring Training, and it remains to be seen which Hendricks we’ll get after the righty struggled mightily in 2021 and 2022.

Chas McCormick (back), Houston Astros — McCormick is eligible to come off the IL on Tuesday, but all signs from Houston are that that’s a little bit aggressive. The center fielder is feeling better and progressing well, but it looks like he’ll return at some point this weekend or early next week.

Kenta Maeda (ankle), Minnesota Twins — Not only has Maeda avoided the injured list, but he’s currently slated to start on Wednesday against the New York Yankees just a couple days delayed from his usual rotation spot. This likely means that Bailey Ober will be headed back down to become baseball’s most overqualified Triple-A pitcher.

Javier Baez (finger), Detroit Tigers — Baez was a late scratch from Sunday’s lineup, but it doesn’t sound too serious:

The shortstop had finally started showing signs of life at the plate, working on a nine-game hit streak, so hopefully this won’t throw him off too much.

Daniel Espino (shoulder), Cleveland Guardians — We thought 2023 would be the year we finally got to see Espino, one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, make his MLB debut, but the 22-year-old’s shoulder started barking in the spring. He’d begun ramping up in the Minor Leagues, but alas, he suffered a setback over the weekend.

Fingers crossed that we’re not dealing with the worst-case scenario here. When he’s right, Espino has a true top-of-the-scale fastball, even topping out at 103 mph on the gun.

Druw Jones (quad), Arizona Diamondbacks — The No. 2 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, consensus top-20 prospect and son of former Braves legend Andruw — yes, we’re all that old now — was put on the IL in the Minors over the weekend with a quad strain. It doesn’t sound too serious, and the hope is he’ll be back in a week or two.