Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays: The good, bad and injured

AL East: The Injured

Injuries and avoiding injuries can make or break a season. There are a lot of recent injuries and players about to rejoin their teams in the AL East that could change the landscape of the division. Let’s look at some of the biggest injuries in the AL East.

New York Yankees

The biggest reason the Yankees are only in third place in the AL East is the unreasonable amount of injured players. They got former MVP sluggers Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson back as of Saturday, with three homers between them in their first game back. But there are still missing a lot of key players who need to get healthy if the Yankees want to make a run at the series.

Harrison Bader is on his second stint on the IL in 2023, and this time is a hamstring that will have him out for a few weeks. The All-Star break is his expected return.

Carlos Rodón’s pinstripe debut has gone from anticipatedly waiting to questioning the GM for buying a severely injured pitcher. The Rodón situation is bringing back many Carl Pavano memories from Yankee fans. Rodón could resume facing hitters next week in NY; the All-Star break is a realistic return expectation for him, but he could be back by the end of June.

Remember that home run Judge caught and crashed thru the outfield wall Saturday night that we were talking about earlier? Well, he is now day-to-day with a foot thing and was out of the lineup Sunday.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox have placed starter Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The Sox announced afterward that he would head for imaging Friday. It does not look like it will require surgery, but it seems unlikely he’ll be back when first eligible a couple of weeks from now.

A hamstring issue has sidelined Christian Arroyo since May 7, but he looks ready to return. He has already logged 15 at-bats in Triple-A Worcester.

Tampa Bay Rays

A trio of day-to-day injuries happened Saturday for the Rays. Wander Franco, Jose Siri, and Brandon Lowe were all out of Sunday’s lineup. Hopefully, this won’t be anything other than a day or two off, but it could be potentially detrimental to the Rays.

Baltimore Orioles

In Baltimore, Cedric Mullins headed to the 10-day IL last Tuesday with a groin strain, and he should be able to return next weekend without a rehab stint.

Saturday star rookie Gunnar Henderson was listed as day-to-day and was out of the lineup on Sunday. Another injury to keep an eye on, Henderson is considered the future of the franchise.