Injuries Decimating Major League Baseball in 2024

By Matthew Veasey

In the world of professional sports, it has been said that injuries are a part of the game. Pretty much every team in every major sport will suffer injuries to key players at some point during their season. Overcoming these injuries, often through what has become known in recent years as the “next man up” philosophy, is what makes or breaks a successful season.

But for the teams of Major League Baseball in the 2024 season, those injuries seem more frequent and more cruel than usual. Star players and prospects are dropping like flies, filling up the Injured List in MLB and Minor League Baseball.

Let’s look around the game to highlight exactly how bad the injury situation has been.

The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers have played the entire season to this point with their two veteran ace pitchers, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, on the Injured List. Scherzer is working his way back, and the hope is that he can rejoin the Texas rotation as soon as later this week. But deGrom is just about to begin throwing bullpen sessions as he recovers from Tommy John surgery one year ago.

Texas also lost two star young position players, Josh Jung and Evan Carter, for lengthy stints on the IL. Jung played in just four games before being lost to a wrist injury. The Rangers hope to have him back at the end of this month. Carter’s return is more questionable. A bad back has him out at least until after the All-Star break next month.

Thanks to these key injuries the champs find themselves struggling below the .500 mark and trailing the Seattle Mariners in the American League West Division standings.

Texas is not the only club in the AL West suffering through major injury issues. Perennial contenders, the Houston Astros have also lost key players. Starting pitchers Lance McCullers Jr, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, and Jose Urquidy are all currently on the 60-day IL.

Urquidy had Tommy John surgery just 10 days ago and Javier will go through the same procedure later this week. Meanwhile, Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr, who have yet to pitch this season, each recently threw off a mound, but neither is close to returning.

41-year-old future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander began his season late due to an injury. Now he is listed as day-to-day with a sore neck that caused him to miss his last start. And star right fielder Kyle Tucker has missed the last two weeks on the 10-day IL with a leg injury.

These injuries have been major contributors to Houston sitting in basically the same position in the AL West standings as their in-state Texas rivals.

Justin Verlander, taken April 2018Photo byJeffrey Hayes

Sticking in the AL West, while not many had the Los Angeles Angels as contenders this season, it didn’t help the Halos’ cause when they lost stars Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon. Both have become injury-prone in recent years, so it was fairly predictable. Both players have been out of the lineup since late April.

In the American League Central, the Cleveland Guardians are enjoying a strong season, leading the division by a healthy margin. But the Guardians have not avoided the injury bug, with veteran ace starting pitcher Shane Bieber having been lost to Tommy John surgery after just two starts.

Elbow surgeries really seemed to explode this year. Joining Bieber, deGrom, Urquidy, and Javier on the current MLB list of pitchers who either are recovering from or about to undergo TJ surgery, flexor tendon surgery, or an internal brace procedure due to UCL (elbow) injuries are Spencer Strider of Atlanta, John Means and Tyler Wells of Baltimore, Garrett Whitlock, Lucas Giolito and Chris Murphy of Boston, Trevor Stephan of Cleveland, German Marquez, Daniel Bard, and Antonio Senzatela of Colorado, Sawyer Gipson-Long of Detroit, Emmet Sheehan of the Dodgers, Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez in Miami, Wade Miley of Milwaukee, Anthony DeSclafani of Minnesota, Brooks Raley of the Mets, Jonathan Loaisiga of the Yankees, Ken Waldichuk and Trevor Gott of Oakland, Robbie Ray of San Francisco, Matt Brash of Seattle, Shane McClanahan of Tampa Bay, Alek Manoah of Toronto, and Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter.

Facing the strong possibility of undergoing the knife are Kyle Bradish of Baltimore, and young Milwaukee prospect Robert Gasser. Yankees star Gerrit Cole is working his way back from elbow troubles, opting against surgery. Cole has looked good during his rehab after missing the entire season to this point. Whether his elbow can hold up remains a question mark.

The loss for the season of Strider was a big early blow to the six-time defending NL East champion Braves, but it is not their only huge loss to injury. Reigning National League Most Valuable Player Ronald Acuna was lost for the season with a late May knee injury. All-Star catcher Sean Murphy missed two months and has yet to get going. Third baseman Austin Riley missed two weeks in mid-May. Now outfielder Michael Harris Jr is out for an indeterminate time with a hamstring.

All the injuries have helped the playoff battle-tested division rival Philadelphia Phillies bolt to a big lead. However, the Fightin’ Phils have begun to see the injuries pile up. Outfielder Brandon Marsh just got back into the lineup and star shortstop Trea Turner is about to return after missing six weeks, due to hamstring injuries.

As those two were nearing a return, the club lost All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto until some time after the All-Star break following right knee surgery.

The other of the NL’s ‘Big Three’ teams in 2024, the Los Angeles Dodgers, just lost talented Japanese import hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto, with Clayton Kershaw and Max Muncy already out of commission.

Matt Veasey is a retired three-decade Philadelphia Police supervisor and instructor, now the voice behind @PhilliesBell on X/Twitter, the most informative and interactive Philadelphia Phillies news and history social media account. His email is matthew.veasey@verizon.net.