MLB Injury Report

by: Drew Brown (@DruBrownESPN)

As far as injuries for the Pirates go, other than A.J. Burnett, they have been fairly healthy and only Neil Walker and Charlie Morton have been bruised up. Walker had a stiffness in his back, and has already returned and Morton had a torn labrum in his left hip. He’s been treated and is expected to make his spring training debut on Monday, and throw two innings. For the MLB though a couple of big name players have been ruled out for opening day already. Dallas Braden, Tim Hudson, Corey Hart, Grady Sizemore have just about been declared out for Opening Day and a few players are still up in the air for whether or not they will be ready for the start of the regular season. Kendry Morales, Allen Craig, Stephen Drew, and Johan Santana are names among that list as they look like a 50-50 shot.

The Red Sox have had a tough off season/spring training as far as injuries go. They already lost John Lackey for the season to Tommy John and Carl Crawford is not expected to be ready for Opening Day as well. Not that this is any kind of surprise, but Daisuke Matsuzaka is out until at least July due to a sprained elbow and Ryan Kalish looks like he’ll have a late start to the season as well.

Buster Posey and Josh Johnson both made their returns this weekend. Johnson pitched against St. Louis on Friday night and threw 2.1 shutout innings, striking out three, while throwing 52 pitches. He was clearly one of the more electric pitchers in the league last season, before injuring himself in May and being shut down for the remainder of the year. Posey caught two innings for Matt Cain on Friday and claims “everything felt good.” He had one at bat also, which he flew out. He is set to catch four innings on Sunday, and will definitely help out the San Francisco Giants, who look to overcome their disappointing year.

David Wright, third basemen for the New York Mets, is still about a week away from his return. He had a stiff left ribcage and is not expected back until mid-to-late March. Bryce Harper is expected to be back on Sunday, after missing a game. He is still suffering from a tightness in his left calf.

Ryan Howard has worn a walking boot for the past five days and is still expected to be out through April, and the Phillies hope he can return to them sometime in May. He has recently been diagnosed with an infection around his Achilles tendon, and it was serious enough to require minor surgery.

When it comes to players who are already out for the 2012 season, there have not been many. Victor Martinez is the biggest name on the list, as he tore his ACL over a month ago, and has already went through surgery. As I mentioned above, John Lackey is out for the season with Tommy John surgery and Joel Zumaya, newly acquired Minnesota Twin, tore a ligament in his right elbow, and is set to get Tommy John surgery on March 29th. Zumaya, who was once clocked with a 104 MPH fastball, has been shutdown early the past five seasons now, and his days of him being known as the fastest pitcher in the major leagues are certainly over. And yes, he is also the guy who missed three playoff games for the Tigers in 2006 after injuring himself playing Guitar Hero.