A trio of National League pennant hopefuls are suddenly dealing with injuries to some pretty big players.
The Philadelphia Phillies lost slugging first baseman Rhys Hoskins Thursday when he hurt his left knee fielding a ground ball in a spring training game. He needs surgery for a torn ACL and is expected to miss a significant amount of time.
St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (groin) and Atlanta Braves closer Raisel Iglesias (swollen shoulder) will also begin the season on the disabled list.
The Phillies did not say how long Hoskins is expected to be out. Hoskins, who turned 30 last week, hit six home runs in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.
Philadelphia is already without designated hitter and two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper for at least two months as he recovers from offseason elbow surgery.
( Shohei Ohtani strikes out Mike Trout as Japan defeats Team USA in the World Baseball Classic title game )
Wainwright was in line for his seventh opening day start in what is slated to be his final season. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told reporters Thursday before St. Louis’ spring training game against the New York Yankees than Wainwright could lose several weeks.
The 41-year-old apparently strained his groin in practice before Team USA lost to Japan. 3-2 in the World Baseball Classic championship game on Tuesday. Wainwright went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in eight innings to help the US reach the final.
( Pete Alonso on his World Baseball Classic experience: ‘I’m very proud of it’ )
“We will continue to evaluate in the next few days, but there is no timetable at this time,” Marmol said. according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There’s a spot in the rotation now open, and we’re going to have to sit down and make sure we don’t miss out on any of that.”
With Iglesias, the Braves said an MRI showed the right-hander has “low-grade” inflammation and won’t pitch for seven days. Iglesias was expected to take over the closer’s role after Kenley Jansen signed with the Boston Red Sox. Iglesias, 33, had a combined 17 saves last season for the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta.
The Cardinals welcomed Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, who both played for Team USA, to camp, along with Lars Nootbaar, an outfielder for Team Japan. The cardinals posted a photo. of them spreading out with the caption: “What do you think they’re talking about!?”
Goldschmidt and Nootbaar were in the starting lineup on Thursday.
Yu Darvish returned to the San Diego Padres after helping Team Japan win the WBC title. The right-hander was in Japan for the early stages of the tournament and then in Florida for the final rounds.
Darvish started one game and came out of the bullpen twice in the WBC. He was also part of the 2009 team that won the championship.
He said he was “very grateful” that the Padres allowed him to spend his prep time with the Japanese team.
“They trusted me to go there,” he said through an interpreter Thursday in Peoria, Arizona. “(It was) a little difficult going there, but the beautiful thing about it was that you get to spend time with these young up-and-coming pitchers in Japan who are very talented and you get to know and befriend them. they too. It was a very significant moment.”
Next step, stretching out the arm. He’s not used to coming out of the bullpen: Of his 242 major league appearances on the mound, all have been starts.
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“Team Japan was trying to win everything. I wasn’t able to develop like I would in regular spring training,” Darvish said. “I can’t think too much about this. We’ll see how I feel as we go along. I try to go back to what I usually do.”
Darvish said he would talk to manager Bob Melvin about when he would pitch. Darvish looks to play “about four innings” in any tune-up appearance before the regular season, which begins March 30 when the Padres host Colorado.
Bryan Cranston (you know, Walter White from “Breaking Bad”) wants to “get that change… out of here!”
The actor appeared in a Major League Baseball ad in which he watched clips of baseball and touted how the game has evolved with the new rule changes.
“This is the game we all want to see,” Cranston said in the commercial.
The shot clock has kicked things up a notch, with spring training games averaging 26 fewer minutes than last spring. He’s also ramped things up on the base paths, with stolen base attempts going from 1.6 per game in spring training games last season to 2.4 this spring.
AP sportswriter Charles Odum and AP freelancer Jack Thompson contributed to this report.
