MLB Injuries

Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor is out indefinitely with an acute ankle sprain. The team announced the news Wednesday:

Injuries have been a concern, with Lindor also missing time early in spring training with a right calf strain. 

Lindor has emerged as one of the best players in baseball. He hit .277 in 2018 while setting career-highs in homers (38), RBI (92), runs (129), stolen bases (25) and OPS (.871). He had a WAR of 7.9, per Baseball-Reference, while playing in his third All-Star Game and winning his second Silver Slugger at shortstop.

He was also a Gold Glove winner in 2016.

Few players offer both Lindor's pop at the plate and his defensive prowess at a position of demand like shortstop. For that reason, he was ranked as the fourth-best player in baseball entering the 2019 season, per MLB Network:

It also makes him uniquely difficult to replace. While he's out of action, Max Moroff will step into the shortstop role, though he doesn't offer the upside that Lindor brings to the table. 

Cleveland's offense will absolutely miss Lindor's blend of speed and power, and if he's forced to miss a significant chunk of time, the team may need to make a move on the trade market. The hope in Cleveland will be that Lindor can be back at 100 percent before long.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper left Friday's spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays after he was hit in the right foot by a 96 mph fastball.

Harper fell to the ground and appeared to be in pain before he went back to the dugout.

He slowly made his way to the clubhouse with team trainers:

Manager Gabe Kapler told reporters Harper was diagnosed with a right foot contusion and would undergo X-rays.

"We don't have reason for major concern," Kapler said.

The biggest free-agent signing of the offseason, Harper entered Friday's game with three walks and a pair of strikeouts in limited spring training action.

Staying healthy will be crucial for Harper as he hopes to live up to his record-setting deal. He missed 51 games in 2017 and has missed at least 15 games in five of his previous seven seasons.

The Phillies will hold their breath and hope the new face of the franchise is not in serious danger of missing Opening Day after he joined the club midway through the spring.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Friday that starting pitcher Luis Severino will not be ready to pitch in an MLB game until May 1 at the earliest, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.

Severino is suffering from rotator cuff inflammation in his right throwing shoulder, which has been treated with cortisone shots and anti-inflammatories.

The plan is for Severino to begin playing catch next week. Regarding the decision to hold him out until May, Severino said, "I just want to be healthy and help my team."

The Yankees entered spring training with the expectation that Severino would be the Opening Day starter after he led the team in most major pitching categories last season.

Severino went 19-8 with a 3.39 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 220 strikeouts in 191.1 innings. He was named an All-Star for the second consecutive season and finished ninth in the American League Cy Young award voting.

For as good as Severino's overall numbers were, they would have been even better if not for a brutal stretch from July 7 to Sept. 5 that saw him go 4-5 with a 6.83 ERA over 11 starts.

Severino regained his rhythm over his final three regular-season starts, and he had a strong playoff start in the American League Wild Card Game against the Oakland Athletics as well. Because of that, big things were expected out of the 25-year-old in 2019.

With Severino out, Masahiro Tanaka was announced as the Opening Day starter. He will be followed by James Paxton and J.A. Happ in the rotation, but it isn't immediately clear who will follow him.

Severino won't be back until at least May, and according to WFAN's Sweeny Murti, Cashman said CC Sabathia won't return until sometime in April.

Since Severino and Sabathia won't be part of the rotation to start the season, manager Aaron Boone may have to turn to some young hurlers out of a group that includes Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa.

All three players struggled at the big league level last season. German went 2-6 with a 5.57 ERA, although he did strike out 10.7 batters per nine innings. Also, Loaisiga went 2-0 with a 5.11 ERA and Cessa went 1-4 with a 5.24 ERA.

The Yanks could also employ the "opener" strategy that was popularized by the Tampa Bay Rays last season. Since reliever Chad Green is capable of going two or even three innings at time, he would be an ideal opener should Boone go in that direction.

Regardless of how the Yankees fill the final two spots of their rotation, it seems likely that New York's stacked lineup led by Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres will be tasked with spearheading the team over the first month of the season.

The New York Yankees don't expect Luis Severino's injury will force them to make a move that boosts their starting rotation before the regular season begins.

Per ESPN's Coley Harvey, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman indicated they will rely on their internal depth to cover for Severino's absence rather than sign a free agent. 

"What I've got is what I've got," Cashman said of his rotation. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced Tuesday that Severino was "highly unlikely" to be ready for Opening Day on March 28 against the Baltimore Orioles due to shoulder inflammation.

Per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, Severino is going to be shut down for two weeks, receive a cortisone injection and resume his throwing program. 

"Better it happened now than during the season," Severino told reporters Wednesday, via Hoch. "I think it's something that we can treat now and move forward to the season and be able to pitch."

The Yankees have depth in their rotation to cover for Severino's absence. James Paxton, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners in the offseason, or Masahiro Tanaka are the most-likely candidates to start on Opening Day.

Among the potential starters New York can plug in the back of its rotation, Domingo German has the type of stuff to be successful:

German did struggle with a 5.74 ERA and 15 homers allowed in 85.2 innings, but the 26-year-old also had 102 strikeouts. 

The Yankees have lofty ambitions this season after winning 100 games in 2018. Losing Severino is a cause for concern, but as long as his injury doesn't cause him to miss significant time, they have enough talent to keep pace with the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox in the AL East.

The Kansas City Royals have received bad news regarding catcher Salvador Perez, who will reportedly miss the entire 2019 season with an elbow injury. 

Per MLB Network's Jon Heyman, doctors have recommended Perez have Tommy John surgery, and he's expected to undergo the procedure next week. 

Per MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan, the Royals announced Friday their All-Star catcher will be out indefinitely after an MRI showed damage in his UCL.

The Royals said in a statement Perez suffered the injury during Wednesday's spring training workout. He will visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles for a second opinion next week.

Perez has been hit by injuries in each of the previous two seasons. He missed two weeks in August 2017 due to an intercostal strain and the first 20 games in 2018 with an MCL tear.

With Perez expected to miss the entire season, Cam Gallagher will likely take over behind the plate. Kansas City will host the Chicago White Sox in its season opener March 28.

Since taking over as Kansas City's starter in 2013, Perez has established himself as one of MLB's best catchers. The Venezuela native ranks sixth among all players at the position with 14.2 FanGraphs wins above replacement over the past six seasons and tied his career high with 27 homers last season.

The regular season is still more than a month away, but Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is struggling to establish a rhythm at spring training with health concerns getting in his way. 

According to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the southpaw "didn't feel great" following a session of catch on Monday. "Might be a day or two before he picks it up again," Roberts added.

Castillo noted the manager said the team still hasn't scheduled an MRI for Kershaw.

This comes after Pedro Moura of The Athletic reported that Roberts said Kershaw is taking anti-inflammatory medication after his shoulder felt off following his throwing session. The manager suggested the veteran's effort to dial up his velocity could have played a factor.

Despite the reports, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com noted on Sunday the plan is still for Kershaw to start the Dodgers' season opener on March 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There are few pitchers more important to their respective teams in the league than the 30-year-old Kershaw. He has a National League MVP, three NL Cy Youngs, five ERA titles, a Gold Glove and seven All-Star appearances on his resume and was still largely dominant last season with a 2.73 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 155 strikeouts in 161.1 innings.

However, there have been durability concerns of late seeing as how he has made 27 or fewer starts in four of the last five years.

The Dodgers are looking to take the next step as champions following six straight NL West crowns and two straight World Series losses, but they likely need a healthy Kershaw by October if they are going to do so. Expect them to use the necessary precaution at this time of the calendar with their veteran ace.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Carlos Martinez will not throw for two weeks, per team beat reporter Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com:

Martinez had two stints on the disabled list in 2018. The right-hander missed virtually all of May with a strained right lat.

After returning to the Cardinals' rotation on June 5, Martinez posted a 4.87 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 25 walks in 40.2 innings over nine starts. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list for a second time on July 21 with a strained right oblique. 

The Cardinals decided to use him out of the bullpen for his final 15 appearances from Aug. 21 to Sept. 29. He had a 1.47 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 18.1 innings down the stretch. 

St. Louis' starting rotation was wrecked by injuries last season. Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha only combined to make 23 starts, and prized prospect Alex Reyes made just one start before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. 

The Cardinals look more formidable this season, especially on offense, after acquiring Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Martinez has the highest ceiling of any St. Louis starter, but his mounting injury history is concerning for a team with playoff aspirations in 2019. 

The New York Yankees announced that pitcher CC Sabathia has been cleared for baseball activities following a stress test Tuesday. 

The 38-year-old underwent heart surgery in December after it was discovered he had a blockage in one of the arteries leading from his heart, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

"A procedure was done to insert a stent to clear the blockage on Dec. 11," his agent Kyle Thousand said at the time in a statement, per Rosenthal. "CC is doing great and will be reporting to spring training on time to get ready to play for his upcoming final season in 2019."

Per Rosenthal, he was expected to ramp up his physical activity following the stress test if everything went well, and he now appears back on track to be ready for spring training.

Sabathia was a free agent this offseason but agreed to a one-year deal with the Yankees worth $8 million for what was already expected to be his final year in the majors, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

The 2019 season will be the veteran's 11th with the Yankees and 19th in the majors during a career that saw him earn six All-Star selections and one Cy Young award.

Although he isn't the dominant player he once was, Sabathia has still been an effective player in recent years. He finished last season with a 9-7 record with a 3.65 ERA, his lowest mark since 2012.

After apparently getting his heart problems under control, the left-hander should once again make a positive impact for the Yankees as they try to contend for a World Series title.