MLB Injury News: Garrett Mitchell, Kevin Gausman, Bryan Woo, Jhoan Duran, Paul Sewald and More

Discussing some injury news to some MLB players as the regular season closes in.

There’s been a ton of significant injuries already in the MLB, and several more fantasy players are now dealing with ailments as the regular season closes in.

Let’s discuss some of the injured players and how to proceed.

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Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers will already be without closer Devin Williams for a couple months and starter Wade Miley to open the season, but the latest injury news is that Garrett Mitchell has a fracture in his left hand that will force him to miss extended time.

Mitchell missed a good portion of the 2023 season with a torn labrum, so this is simply unfortunate for the young outfielder.

With Mitchell out for at least a month, that likely means that Sal Frelick will start a bunch in center field (he was getting some infield work and likely going to play there fairly often to start the season). Christian Yelich should be in left field pretty much every day, while Jackson Chourio is in right field. 

The Brewers could bring up Joey Wiemer to be a fourth outfielder, but I’m guessing they leave him in Triple-A to get consistent at-bats, meaning Blake Perkins will serve as the top outfield option off the bench. 

Mitchell was barely owned in any leagues, but this should allow Chourio and Frelick to stick in the starting lineup every day, so they’d be the players to target on the waiver wire.

Rangers

Corey Seager and Josh Jung have been dealing with injuries all spring, but got into some spring training action a couple days ago and should be good to go to start the regular season.

Nathaniel Lowe is also dealing with an injury that could send him to the injured list to start the season. Jared Walsh likely would get the starts at first base if Lowe is out, so keep an eye on the status of Lowe, and proceed with adding Walsh if there’s no other better options out there.

Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker will open the season on the injured list with a shoulder injury. 

Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez were all locked into the team’s starting rotation, and Cristopher Sanchez also had a pretty good hold on a starting spot. The injury to Walker means Spencer Turnbull likely gets a couple turns in the rotation at the start of the season. You’d best play matchups with Turnbull, so treat him as a streaming option.

Blue Jays

It looks like Kevin Gausman might not have to open the year on the IL after all. The Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher looked good in a three-inning start on March 25 and could make a start in the fourth or fifth game of the season. He might not go more than four or five innings, but that’d be better than missing a couple weeks and ramping up after that.

Starter Alek Manoah will open the season on the IL, while relievers Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson are also likely to open the season on the IL. 

The injury to Manoah means that Bowden Francis likely opens the season in the rotation. With Romano and Swanson out, Yimi Garcia looks like the favorite to get the closing opportunities to start the season. Nate Pearson and Genesis Cabrera are likely setup men.

I’d treat Francis as a streaming option, and only start him in a favorable matchup. If you have the roster space and are looking for some saves, you could roll with Garcia for a couple weeks.

Diamondbacks

Eduardo Rodriguez will open the season on the IL with a lat strain. He was expected to form a three-headed attack with starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, and without Rodriguez now, the D-Backs’ rotation looks a little weak to start the season. 

Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry look like the last three starting pitchers after Gallen and Kelly to open the season. All three guys are streaming options at this point.

Closer Paul Sewald will also open the season on the IL, which is another blow to the team’s pitching staff.

Kevin Ginkel is expected to be the team’s full-in closer with Sewald out of commission. That moves Scott McGough and Miguel Castro into more high-leverage roles, at least to open the season. Like in the case with the Blue Jays’ closer, if you have a roster spot to play with, Ginkel is worth adding to see if you can get a few saves out of him at the start of the season.

Cardinals

Tommy Edman will open the season on the IL because of wrist surgery he had five months ago.

With Edman out, it looks like Dylan Carlson will make the team and start in center field. It could also open up some opportunities for Matt Carpenter or Brandon Crawford to get some at-bats, because Brendan Donovan can play all over the field, leaving the designated hitter spot open. 

Mariners

The Seattle Mariners have three pitchers who are out of action to start the season.

Relievers Gregory Santos and Matt Brash will open the season on the IL, leaving a pretty big void in the late innings. Andres Munoz was always going to close games for Seattle, but Ryne Stanek and Gabe Speier, among others, are now likely to be thrust into setup roles early on.

Starter Bryan Woo is also out to start the season. He was expected to fill out the team’s rotation, but that honor will likely go to Emerson Hancock now.

Treat Hancock as another streaming option to start the season, only utilizing him in a pinch against favorable opponents. 

Guardians

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams will open the year on the IL with an elbow injury. He suffered the injury earlier in March, and simply needs time to build his arm back up. Hopefully, it’s just a couple-week absence for Williams. 

The void left by Williams likely means that Carlos Carrasco gets a start or two at the beginning of the season. Tyler Beede is the team’s long reliever and could be another option. Whoever starts should be viewed as a streaming option.

Marlins

Miami is already down Sandy Alcantara for the season, and will have three other starters on the IL to begin the season.

Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera are all likely out at least two weeks with shoulder or elbow injuries.

To replace those four starters, it looks like Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers, Trevor Rogers and Max Meyer will open the year in the rotation. Luzardo should be owned in just about every league, but the other four should be available in a healthy amount of leagues. I’d treat them all as streaming options as the season gets going.

Reds

Outfielder TJ Friedl will be out for several weeks with a fracture in his right wrist. Infielder Matt McLain is dealing with a shoulder injury and also won’t be available to the team to start the season. 

Jonathan India could be the temporary replacement for McLain. He could bat atop the Reds’ lineup, which would make him a solid streaming option any time he’s in the lineup.

The void left by Friedl will likely be filled by a platoon. Will Benson and one of Stuart Fairchild or Bubba Thompson could get starts in center field - Thompson and Fairchild are also platoon options with Jake Fraley in right field. Benson, Fairchild and Thompson are all streaming options, but I’d try to look for regular starters with that fantasy roster spot instead.

Starters Brandon Williamson and Nick Lodolo will both open the season on the IL.

It looks like Nick Martinez and Andrew Abbott will fill out the team’s rotation for the time being. Hunter Greene is the only Cincy starter that owned in every league, so guys like Martinez, Abbott, Frankie Montas and Graham Ashcraft are all streaming options to open the season.

Twins

Closer Jhoan Duran will open the season on the IL with a right oblique strain. Relievers Justin Topa and Caleb Thielbar will also open the year on that list, taking away a couple of closer possibilities.

It looks like Griffin Jax could get the closing opportunities to start the season. Brock Stewart and Jorge Alcala are the projected setup men.

Jax is worth a waiver wire add if you have a roster spot to play with, especially with an uncertain return date for Duran, although Thielbar or Topa could take over the closer role if they return before Duran.

#injuries