Trio of Playoff Contenders Each Loses Superstar to Injury

Till this weekend, baseball’s injured checklist was noticeably naked to begin the 2026 season. Then, starting with Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk on Friday, the celebs went down in fast succession. The Cubs misplaced two of their prime beginning pitchers, Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd, in consecutive days. Becoming a member of them on the IL are two of the highest gamers within the Nationwide League, Mets left fielder Juan Soto and Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, and the most effective pitchers within the American League, Astros ace Hunter Brown. Every of these three groups has a share of first place in the intervening time, making these particularly high-leverage accidents.

It’s uncommon for misfortune to befall the Mets till they’ve an extended run of success, as this workforce’s curse is one which is aware of how to attract out the denouement till essentially the most poetic time. However which will come later, as Soto’s damage seems to be the least extreme of the three gamers concerned.

Operating from first to 3rd on a Bo Bichette single on Friday in San Francisco, Soto tweaked his calf muscle and was changed by Tyrone Taylor. After an MRI revealed a pressure, somewhat than one thing extra critical, the Mets waited two days earlier than finally deciding on Monday to place Soto on the IL. In asserting the roster transfer, the workforce stated, “A typical return to play for this kind of damage is roughly 2-3 weeks.” That timeframe would make this the longest IL stint of Soto’s principally injury-free profession. That is solely his fourth main league IL stint and first since 2021, when he missed 10 video games with a strained left shoulder. Earlier than that, he was on the COVID IL for the primary eight video games of 2020 as a result of attainable publicity to the virus, and in 2019, he spent the minimal 10 days on the IL for again spasms. Because the begin of the 2022 season, he has performed in 640 out of 658 workforce video games, making him one of many healthiest gamers in baseball throughout that span.

My preliminary thought was that the Mets would go together with a platoon of Brett Baty and Taylor in left discipline, however Baty bought the beginning in proper discipline on Saturday and was scratched with a jammed thumb on Sunday, so it’s slightly exhausting to gauge how a lot the workforce plans on utilizing Jared Younger, who began each video games in left discipline this weekend.

I ran the ZiPS projections for a number of eventualities, and as you’ll count on, Soto’s damage has little affect on the Mets’ playoff odds as a result of he’s not anticipated to overlook a lot time. I additionally checked out how an extended absence would change the chances, however be mindful, there’s completely nothing at this stage that signifies these are even distant potentialities.

Subsequent up we’ve got Betts, who exited Saturday’s sport with again ache after scoring a run within the first inning of the Dodgers’ 10-5 win over the Nationals. He obtained an MRI and was identified with an indirect pressure. The restoration time for an indirect pressure is often about 4 to 6 weeks. Even when he wants longer than that to return to the lineup, he ought to nonetheless have loads of time to salvage his season after getting off to a sluggish begin. Throughout his first eight video games, he was batting .179/.281/.429 with two residence runs and a 101 wRC+.

Betts stayed wholesome all through the 2025 marketing campaign, except for a minor toe damage, however a protracted abdomen sickness within the preseason triggered him to lose a great deal of weight, and really possible contributed to his having his worst offensive season since he was a prospect enjoying within the New York-Penn League practically 15 years in the past. The hope was that, after a full offseason to get again into enjoying form, he would take pleasure in a bounce-back 12 months. That stated, he’s Mookie Betts; we definitely shouldn’t count on that he received’t have a powerful 2026 season, but it surely’s undoubtedly a disappointment that his resurgence has been delayed.

The Dodgers don’t seem to have fairly the depth that they used to, however the substitute choice at shortstop is fairly clear, with Miguel Rojas and the recalled Hyeseong Kim splitting time there. Whereas a Rojas/Kim platoon could be at or close to the underside of a shortstop positional energy rating, that’s principally as a result of intense competitors on the spot than any inadequacy on their half. And the excellent news for the Dodgers is that the projections typically agree that they’re the strongest workforce in baseball. Contemplating they have already got a three-game cushion within the NL West, they need to be fantastic.

Lastly, we come to Brown. That is probably the scariest of the three accidents: Brown is a pitcher, shoulders are a scary physique half for pitchers, and the extent of the damage just isn’t but recognized, at the least to the general public. Whereas ZiPS was extra optimistic than the opposite projection techniques on the Astros, it did see there being vital draw back danger for them, provided that a lot of their worth comes from comparatively few gamers. A kind of comparatively few gamers is Brown, who completed third within the AL Cy Younger voting final 12 months. The departure of Framber Valdez over the offseason made Brown’s place as the inspiration of the rotation much more essential. The Astros are usually not projected to be in as sturdy a place because the Dodgers or Mets, so shedding a number of wins right here might show to be detrimental.

ZiPS can be not notably enthralled with Houston’s choices to exchange Brown. The projection for Cody Bolton, who made his first main league begin final evening, is a 4.94 ERA as a full-time starter, and he’s day-to-day in the intervening time after getting hit by a tough comebacker off the bat of Edouard Julien. My imply laptop is extra optimistic about Spencer Arrighetti and Colton Gordon, each extra possible replacements for Brown over the long run than Bolton, but it surely sees them each as merely competent fourth of fifth starters, which is a reasonably large drop-off from a reputable Cy Younger contender.

Until we get some fairly dangerous information about Brown, it seems to be just like the baseball gods weren’t notably merciless on this event. As a result of if it’s one factor the fates love, it’s reminding you that regardless of how fastidiously you construct your roster, or how a lot work you place into Plans B, C, D, and so forth, at any time, they reserve the suitable to snort in your face and depart you beginning a Triple-A journeyman in a vital September matchup.