The month of July is almost over, and just as usual, many of the top names in Major League Baseball have been injured for some time or had just been placed on the disabled list due to fairly recent injuries. Who are these injured stars, and when can they be expected to return? Let's take a look at three division-leading MLB teams and their stars on the sidelines, as well as players from other teams who were recently added to the DL, and look at when these players are likely to return.
Over in the AL East, the Boston Red Sox are leading the entire majors with an impressive 74-33 record as of this writing. For the past two weeks, pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez has been on the sidelines with a right ankle injury, and in an encouraging sign that could hint at an imminent return, he’s been playing catch as he tries to get back into playing shape, per MassLive.
Rodriguez is, at least, expected to return sometime in mid-August, which is more than what can be said about Dustin Pedroia, who has only played in three games this season and might not be back until late August or early September, if at all. Earlier this month, reports suggested there's a good chance the veteran second baseman would sit out the rest of the 2018 MLB season. Additionally, catcher Christian Vazquez is still several weeks away from returning from surgery on a broken finger.
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According to the latest injury report from CBS Sports, the AL West-leading Astros have three of their key players expected to return on Aug. 5, 2018 — second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa, and catcher Brian McCann. While Correa, and McCann have been sidelined for the past several weeks due to back soreness and right knee surgery respectively, Altuve is a recent addition, though the fact that he was only placed on the 10-day DL should be good news to the Astros and their fans. Don’t expect him to miss too much time, and don’t expect Correa and McCann to be out for much longer, as both are making good progress as they recover from their respective injuries.
Moving on to the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs, Yu Darvish hasn’t spent much time on the mound since signing a six-year deal with the team, as he’s played just eight games and pitched 40 innings thus far due to injuries. Currently, he’s still on the Cubs’ disabled list and is expected to be back no sooner than August 14, per CBS Sports.
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The Cubs are also missing another superstar player, as 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant still doesn’t have a definite target date for his return. According to the Chicago Tribune, Bryant suffered some setbacks on his injured left shoulder, and while he didn’t give reporters a good idea of when he may be returning, the third baseman did promise that he will be back at some point in the season.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the majors, there are quite a few top stars who recently hit the DL and could be out for some time. These injured stars include Yankees standouts Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge, the latter of whom suffered a fractured right wrist when he was hit by a pitch on Thursday. Although he doesn’t need surgery, as noted by Fantasy Pros, it’s likely that he won’t be returning until the end of August. Sanchez, on the other hand, was placed on the DL on Tuesday after aggravating his strained groin and is expected to miss at least a month. With a paltry .188 batting average and 14 home runs at the time of writing, Sanchez has been struggling mightily all season after hitting 33 homers and batting .278 last year.
Fortunately for Nationals fans, Stephen Strasburg’s injuries don’t appear to be a big concern at the moment. He was placed on the DL on Wednesday due to the pinched nerve in his neck that has been giving him problems since 2018 spring training. There’s no exact timeline for his return, but reports had previously hinted that he’d be ready to start throwing again on Sunday.
Other recent additions to the DL include the Pirates’ Josh Bell and Corey Dickerson, Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray, Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, and Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Blake Snell, who are all listed on CBS Sports’ injury report as likely to return early in August. Unfortunately, the 2018 season is over for Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and Brewers pitcher Brent Suter, as the former will undergo multiple heel surgeries that could take up to 10 months of recovery time, while the latter is scheduled to have Tommy John surgery and return sometime late next season. Reds outfielder Jesse Winkler was also recently confirmed to be out for the rest of the year and will be undergoing surgery on his injured right shoulder.
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