MLB injury report for Thursday, May 25

Intro

MLB injury report: Thursday, May 25

Carlos Correa (foot), Minnesota Twins — What was initially billed as just some minor heel pain now appears to be a whole lot more:

Just to be clear, this is entirely different from the medical issues that derailed Correa’s mega-contract with the San Francisco Giants over the offseason — that was a dispute over his right ankle, not his left foot. Plantar fasciitis can be awfully painful, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Correa needed a trip to the IL, although obviously the team will give him a couple days of rest to see if he can manage it while remaining in the lineup.

Manny Machado (hand), San Diego Padres — Machado may not be hitting this season, but give the third baseman credit: He’s trying his damndest to be out on the field for his team. Less than two weeks after fracturing a bone in his hand, Machado has already graduated from hitting off a tee to fielding grounders.

Facing live pitching is a whole different hurdle in terms of pain management, but it seems like Machado could return in early June.

Carlos Rodon (back), New York Yankees — Be warned: The Yankees have baseball’s best record in May, and they’re starting to slowly but surely get healthy. Rodon was spotted at Yankee Stadium this week, and he reportedly threw as far as 120 feet — while telling reporters that the discomfort in his back that’s waylaid his rehab is now gone. The lefty still has lots of building up to do, but he could be back at some point next month if all goes well.

Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring)/Josh Donaldson (hamstring), New York Yankees — Rodon’s not the only Yankee trending in the right direction. Donaldson is set to make his second attempt at a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Thursday, while Stanton could be right behind him this weekend if all the tests on his hamstring come back clean. The team has still yet to issue a timetable for return, but for what it’s worth, here’s an educated guess:

Jazz Chisholm (toe), Miami Marlins — Chisholm seems on track to return slightly ahead of his initial 4-6-week timetable, with the outfielder telling Ken Rosenthal that he hopes to return at some point during Miami’s series against the Chicago White Sox from June 9-11. Chisholm has struggled a bit with the bat so far this season, but his power/speed combo gives him a very high fantasy floor even if he’s not getting on base consistently.

Jose Altuve (illness), Houston Astros — Altuve gave everyone a scare when he abruptly left Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, but it turns out that the second baseman was just battling a bit of an illness and was feeling dizzy and dehydrated on the field. He got a day of rest on Wednesday, but he should be back at some point in the next day or two.

Danny Jansen (groin), Toronto Blue Jays — Rough news for an already-thin Jays lineup behind Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., as Jansen was forced to leave Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Braves with what the team is calling groin tightness. There’s still no word on the severity of the injury or whether Jansen will need an IL stint, but obviously a groin strain would make it pretty difficult to catch.

Jansen had hit so well of late that he wrested the starting catcher job away from Alejandro Kirk, with a .868 OPS since May 7.

Julio Urias (hamstring), Los Angeles Dodgers — Good news for a beleaguered Dodgers rotation, as Urias has already resumed throwing just days after landing on the IL with a hamstring strain.

The lefty is set to throw a bullpen either Friday or Saturday, and he might not even need a rehab start before returning. He could be back as soon as next weekend if all goes well.

Triston McKenzie (shoulder)/Aaron Civale (oblique), Cleveland Guardians — Cleveland’s two righties appear to be on the verge of returning. McKenzie made his first rehab appearance with Triple-A over the weekend and is set to pitch again on Thursday — he got up to 56 pitches in that initial outing, so if things go well he could be set to make his 2023 debut at some point next week.

Civale, meanwhile, struck out five over just 3.1 innings in his Triple-A appearance on Tuesday, and he’s also targeting a return in the coming days. The righty had looked awfully good before going on the shelf this season, with a 2.84 ERA over his first two starts.

Dylan Carlson (ankle)/Tyler O’Neill (back), St. Louis Cardinals — Well, at least there’s some progress to report with O’Neill. The outfielder had yet to resume any kind of baseball activities since landing on the IL with back pain in early May, but Oli Marmol told reporters that O’Neill has now begun hitting off a tee. There’s still no timetable for his return; step one is just getting to a point where he’s consistently pain-free. Carlson, on the other hand, took live BP from the right side of the plate on Wednesday, and while he’s still a few days away from testing out the left side, he seems to be trending toward a return in early June.

Anthony Rendon (groin), Los Angeles — We have a Rendon sighting:

Rendon was back with the team for agility drills on Wednesday, and if that goes well he could be back as soon as this weekend — he’s not expected to require a rehab stint.

Tarik Skubal (elbow), Detroit Tigers — Nine months after undergoing flexor tendon surgery, Skubal is set to face live hitters again in a live BP session this week. He’s already thrown several bullpen sessions, so if this step goes well he could progress to a rehab assignment at some point next month — with eyes on a return to action potentially before the All-Star break. Skubal was solid before getting hurt last year, with a 110 ERA+ and nearly a strikeout per inning.

Omar Narvaez (calf), New York Mets — We’re not sure whether Mets fans would classify this as good news necessarily, but Narvaez is nonetheless set to begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Brooklyn on Thursday. With Tomas Nido also on the IL at the moment and Gary Sanchez predictably struggling so far in his short New York tenure, the team could really use Narvaez if only as a backup to rookie Francisco Alvarez. Narvaez has a measly .639 OPS in just five games this year.