MLB injury report for Thursday, June 22

It was a relatively quiet day on the injury front around MLB, without too many big names to report on. Of course, it was still a day that ends in -y, so another New York Yankee wound up on the shelf, while there are situations to monitor regarding everyone from Bo Bichette to Mike Yastrzemski — as well as some notable returns on the horizon.

MLB injury report: Thursday, June 22

Bo Bichette (thumb), Toronto Blue Jays — Concern went up all around Canada on Wednesday afternoon after Bichette was a late scratch from Toronto’s lineup. He’s apparently been feeling some soreness in his left thumb over the past couple of days, but it doesn’t sound like a long-term issue:

The Jays are off on Thursday, and there’s a good chance Bichette will be back atop the order on Friday night after some extra rest.

Willie Calhoun (quad), New York Yankees — The hits just keep on coming for New York, as Calhoun joined the team’s ranks of the walking wounded on Wednesday night. The outfielder/DH, who’s seen regularly playing time of late with Aaron Judge on the IL, heard his quad pop while running to first base in the eighth inning of last night’s win over the Seattle Mariners. There’s yet to be any sort of official diagnosis as Calhoun goes to get an MRI, but he didn’t sound too confidence when reporters asked him about it after the game:

Calhoun said it felt like an injury he suffered a few years ago, which required a PRP injection and 3-4 weeks of recovery time. He’s almost certainly headed to the IL, but we’ll know for sure at some point this week.

Mike Yastrzemski (leg), San Francisco Giants — Speaking of baserunning injuries:

Yaz was removed from the game with a leg injury in the bottom of the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres. There’s no word yet on what exactly is wrong or how long the outfielder may be on the shelf, but he’s been a very solid contributor to San Francisco’s surprising success this season, posting an .808 OPS and 10 homers in 56 games. The team should be able to offer more clarity at some point prior to their matinee this afternoon, but given Yastrzemski’s injury history, this has to be a real concern.

Reese McGuire (oblique)/Corey Kluber (shoulder), Boston Red Sox — Boston had a rough night on Wednesday. Not only did they drop a game to the Minnesota Twins in walk-off fashion, but they lost a couple of players due to injury for the foreseeable future. McGuire, who’s been splitting catching duties with Connor Wong, was nearly doubled over in pain after taking a swing:

He was forced to leave the game with an oblique injury. There’s no word yet as to the severity of it, or how long McGuire might be out, but we’ve seen obliques confound plenty of hitters so far this season.

Kluber, meanwhile, suffered through another disastrous outing on Tuesday, notching his first career save but not before allowing three homers to run his season-long ERA to an unpalatable 7.04. He was put on the IL on Wednesday afternoon with shoulder inflammation, although at this point it’s unclear how much of that is real and how much is merely pretext to send Kluber down to the Minors so he can try and work out whatever’s going wrong for him this season.

“He said he’s been battling with it and yesterday he didn’t feel great with it afterwards,” Cora told reporters. “We were waiting for today to see how he reacted and I think this is the smart thing to do with him.”

The team has yet to offer any sort of timetable for Kluber, but presumably he’ll be shut down for at least a week or so.

Kenta Maeda (triceps), Minnesota Twins — Nearly two full months since going down with a triceps injury, Maeda is ready to rejoin Minnesota’s rotation on Friday night.

The veteran righty has been very solid in a rehab stint for Triple-A St. Paul, with a 2.03 ERA and 17 strikeouts in just 13.2 innings. But he’d pitched to a 9.00 across his first four starts in the Majors this year, and we’re now multiple years removed from him being an above-average starter. Louie Varland was demoted to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Gio Urshela (pelvis), Los Angeles Angels — “Fractured pelvis” just sounds like a serious injury, and sure enough, it just cost Urshela the rest of his 2023 campaign.

The infielder first suffered the injury when trying to run out a ground ball against the Texas Rangers last week. He’ll avoid surgery, but six weeks of rest followed by six weeks of build-up leaves hardly any time left to actually appear in games. Urshela is hitting 299/.329/.374 on the year, and with Anthony Rendon also on the IL, the Angels are rapidly running out of options at third base.

Victor Robles (back), Washington Nationals — Just a few days after being activated off the IL, Robles’ balky back has landed him back on the shelf. The Nats put their center fielder on the injured list again with back spasms in the lumbar spine, a brutal diagnosis considering that Robles was out for six weeks the first time this popped up. He’d been enjoying a mini-breakout at the plate, hitting 299/.385/.364 so far this year. Some combination of Alex Call and Lane Thomas figure to handle center in Robles’ absence.

Yasmani Grandal (knee), Chicago White Sox — Grandal has seemingly been battling minor injuries all season long, and he was a late scratch again ahead of Chicago’s game against the Texas Rangers. This time its right knee soreness, an ailment that he apparently developed after slipping during a pregame workout. It doesn’t yet seem like the team is worried about Grandal needing a stint on the IL, but we’ll see how it develops in the coming days.

Travis Jankowski (leg), Texas Rangers — Jankowski took an awkward slide into second base during Wednesday night’s win over the Chicago White Sox, wincing in noticeable pain on his way the dugout. The 32-year-old has been just one of many success stories for the Texas lineup this year, carving out a role on the strong side of an outfield platoon with a 120 OPS+ and eight steals across 102 plate appearances. The team has yet to announce whether it expects Jankowski to wind up on the injured list.

Matt Beaty/Samad Taylor (head), Kansas City Royals — Miraculously, it seems like both Beaty and Taylor came out of this collision okay:

Taylor stayed in the game, and while Beaty was forced to leave, manager Matt Quatraro called it “non-concussive” and added that “all things considered, he’s in a good spot.” They both might need a day off or two, but hopefully the IL is out of the question.

Shelby Miller (neck), Los Angeles Dodgers — Dodgers pitchers simply cannot catch a break this season, as Miller became the latest arm to wind up on the injured list on Wednesday afternoon. The righty is feeling discomfort in his neck, and it seems more serious than that initial description would suggest:

This is apparently an injury that’s bothered Miller for some time, which would explain why the team wants to be so cautious with it. The 32-year-old righty has been a valuable piece of L.A.’s bullpen, with a a strong 2.40 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 31/18 K/BB ratio across 30 innings (25 appearances) this season.