With over a third of the 2023 regular season in the books, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Bader to undergo MRI:
Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader, who left yesterday’s game with right hamstring tightness, is set to undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the issue. Manager Aaron Boone suggested to reporters (including Erik Boland of Newsday) that Bader may be able to avoid an IL stint, though one can’t be ruled out until further testing is done. Bader missed the first month of the season with an oblique strain.
Bader has combined typically stellar center field defense with a .267/.295/.511 batting line and six home runs, placing him alongside Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton (on the IL with a hamstring injury of his own) as one of the team’s most productive hitters. Should Bader miss time, outfielder Franchy Cordero and infielder Oswald Peraza are the top minor league hitters currently on the 40-man roster. Judge, Isiah-Kiner Falefa and Greg Allen would be among the options to step into Bader’s spot in center field.
2. How will Mullins’ injury impact Baltimore?
Bader wasn’t the only AL East center fielder to suffer a concerning injury yesterday. Orioles star Cedric Mullins suffered a strain to his right abductor/groin area during yesterday’s loss to the Guardians. Mullins underwent testing last night to determine the severity of the injury, and details should be made available before this evening’s game.
In addition to strong defense in center, Mullins has been a key contributor (alongside Austin Hays, Anthony Santander, and Adley Rutschman) to the offensive core that has lifted Baltimore to a 34-20 record that leaves them with a two-game lead for the top AL Wild Card spot. Should Mullins miss significant time, the club could shift Adam Frazier from second base to the outfield, where he has 1,264 2/3 innings of experience across seven seasons, until Colton Cowser or Kyle Stowers is ready to return from injuries of their own. Frazier has ample experience in left field, and left fielder Austin Hays has played plenty of center field in his career. Alternatively, the Orioles could utilize the open spot on their 40-man roster to select the contract of a stopgap option such as Daz Cameron or Ben DeLuzio.
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
With Memorial Day now in the rearview mirror, the storylines of the 2023 season are beginning to crystalize as we head into the summer. If the events of the season so far have spurred any questions in your mind about your favorite team or the league as a whole, MLBTR’s Steve Adams is holding a live chat with readers at 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
In regards to Bader, it always amazes me how teams will acquire a historically injury-prone player with the expectation that NOW said player will stay healthy.
The frustrating part of Bader is when he’s on the field he’s awesome.
I’d rather have a really good player that is sometimes hurt, than a replacement player every day that isn’t very good.
The replacement is who you get when you have an injury riddled player
Except when the playoffs came around and Bader destroyed baseballs. I’ll take 60 games of Bader over 162 of Franchy
This was what was so frustrating with the Monty trade and more specifically this past offseason not addressing the OF depth in the roster. The fact that they came into the season with Bader and Judge as the only proven MLB outfielders whose health are both major question marks given their history is mind numbing. Really just further proof they either don’t know what they are doing or don’t care.
The same reason why the Twins extended Byron Buxton, two way CFs are extremely rare. Teams will live with the injury risk even if it means only having the player on the field for a fraction of the season
I blame his all out style of play for most of his issues. That’s great to see until they keep getting injured.
I love the way he plays. It’s refreshing to see somebody put that much effort into each pitch. I love having him on the team too. This is on Cashman for not having any outfield depth. They went into the season without a starting left fielder for the second year in a row and little to no capable OF depth on the bench….that’s on the front office.
Was not a fan of the Frazier signing. That said, saw him play right field in person at OPACY. Keeps the ball in front of him and hits the cut off man chest high/on the numbers. IMO, this FO makes some moves that at first glance are puzzling but what do I know. Frazier, the DeLuzio pick up, Columebe (sp?), Daz C. Geez.
I just wish Bader didn’t show his braces that often.
Here we go again with Bader. The guy needs to stretch and get a routine to promote more elasticity. His injuries are repeatedly a result of not promoting flexibility and healing.
Baseball has always had spates of these conditioning related injuries. Yet it’s still a sports culture that remains dubious of weightlifting and resistance training. I’ve been hearing this since the ‘80s…
I think you have this backwards….if anything baseball has been over reliant on weight lifting and resistance training which have led to a direct correlation to these soft tissue injuries.
Giancarlo is probably the best example of it. Built like a bodybuilder and can probably lift up an SUV with one hand but isn’t capable of jogging 30 feet without hurting himself.
Has anyone done a study to find this direct correlation?
Hopefully the Bader injury isn’t to serious, and he’ll be able to avoid a DL trip. That being said, given how many injury prone player’s the Yankees have on their roster you have to wonder why Cashman didn’t try to add some OF depth during the off season. I thought David Peralta was the perfect fit for them. He plays solid Defense, good club house guy, and would have added another LEFT handed bat which they still need. That’s why I just don’t get what Cashman is doing with this roster? How is Rizzo their ONLY quality LH hitter they have?! It makes no sense, especially when they play half their games at Yankee Stadium which is one of if not the beat place to hit for lefties with the short porch down the RF line. The LAD got a steal signing Peralta just before ST for 1-yr $6.5-Million.