Zachary Engberg
2 min read • July 20, 2022
Posted in
On July 7, 2021, Mets' ace Jacob deGrom struck out 10 batters in seven innings, dropping his ERA to 1.08 in a season bound for a Cy Young.
He hasn't taken the rubber since as persistent and confusing elbow injuries plagued the rest of 2021, spurring the Pro Baseball Docs to question his availability for this year.
Those elbow issues subsequently led to a scapula stress reaction that has kept him off the mound for the entire 2022 season with no end in sight after he experienced re-emerging soreness over the All-Star break.
Fernando Tatis Jr. underwent surgery for a delayed left wrist fracture in mid-March that the Pro Baseball Docs – going against what the Padres were saying publicly – believed would sideline him for 4-to-6 months.
Tatis Jr. is now nearing a potential early-August return, four months since the surgery and eight months since he suffered the fracture.
The hope remains that Tatis Jr. can return to his high-.900 OPS form and help the Padres' pennant chase over the next three months.
Here, Dr. David Chao breaks down the latest steps for his return to play:
After dominating in the first six weeks of the season, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw each missed a month-plus with an oblique strain and SI joint inflammation, respectively.
Scherzer's May 18 oblique strain kept him out for seven weeks but the Mets' righty has since returned with no lingering effects, as the Docs predicted with a slow-and-steady rehab.
Kershaw, meanwhile, was placed on the IL on May 13 and returned to the Dodgers on June 11 to the tune of a 2.38 ERA and 43 strikeouts across 41.2 IP including an eight-inning one-hitter on July 15.
Two of the game's best young hitters, Rays' shortstop Wander Franco and Astros' leftfielder and DH Yordan Alvarez, have each gone to the 10-day IL in the last 10 days after suffering hamate bone injuries.
Franco underwent surgery to remove the hook of hamate fracture in his right hand and is likely to return in late August/early September.
Alvarez is attempting to rehab the injury without surgery for the second time this season, but the Pro Baseball Docs expect him to undergo the hook of hamate removal as well.
Mets' catcher James McCann was the hamate pioneer, suffering his own fracture on May 10 and returning on June 25.
Once the lockout ended and spring training convened in mid-March, Sports Injury Central began keeping a close eye on soft tissue injuries that were likely to compound because of the truncated training period.
In the first six weeks, the likes of Jose Altuve, Max Scherzer, Tim Anderson, Teoscar Hernandez, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Castillo, Yoan Moncada, Jonathan India, Kris Bryant, and Wander Franco – just to name a few – all went to the IL because of oblique, hamstring, groin, back, or shoulder muscle injuries.
After the recent returns of Jimenez, Kevin Newman and Luis Patiño, all players with early-season injuries have recovered.
Written by Zachary Engberg
