Injuries are an unfortunate, never-ending predicament that all clubs have to face. At the onset of the 2025 season, a number of teams have already been hit particularly hard.
Here are the teams facing the most injury-related adversity -- based on the sheer number of injuries, the expected severity of said injuries, and the importance of the players impacted -- as well as the plan to overcome these absences.
1. Yankees (11 players on IL)
Key injuries: RHP Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery), RHP Luis Gil (right lat strain), RHP Clarke Schmidt (right shoulder soreness), DH Giancarlo Stanton (torn elbow tendons)
No team has been hit worse by the injury bug than the Yankees. Remember when Marcus Stroman reported to camp and made headlines, declaring that he wouldn¡¯t pitch in the bullpen? Well, fast forward five weeks, and Stroman is penciled in as New York¡¯s No. 3 starter. Cole won¡¯t throw a pitch this season, and Gil -- who stepped up amid Cole¡¯s absence last year -- is expected to miss at least three months. Schmidt, while healthy, still needs to build up his pitch count after making only one Spring Training start. It¡¯s not just the pitchers who are down, either: Stanton isn¡¯t doing any baseball activities, leaving a void in the lineup.
To cobble together their rotation, the Yankees are turning to Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco. The 38-year-old Carrasco revived his career with a sparkling spring, pitching to a 1.69 ERA as a non-roster invitee to earn a rotation spot. Meanwhile, Stanton¡¯s injury should create more playing time for a beefed-up Ben Rice, who bashed five home runs in Grapefruit League play while forcing his way onto the Opening Day roster.
2. Mets (9 players on IL)
Key injuries: LHP Sean Manaea (strained right oblique), RHP Frankie Montas (right lat strain), C Francisco Alvarez (fractured left hamate bone), 2B Jeff McNeil (strained right oblique)
The Mets didn¡¯t quite out-do their crosstown rivals, but they came close. Injuries to Manaea -- the ace of last year¡¯s staff -- and Montas put an immediate strain on New York¡¯s pitching depth. For now, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning will get a chance to step into that void. Though he pitched to a 5.19 ERA last year with the Angels, Canning looked like a different pitcher this spring. Relying on a revamped arsenal that hides an underwhelming fastball, Canning struck out 22 batters in 14 1/3 innings with a 1.88 ERA. Megill has plenty of upside with a six-pitch mix and a four-seam fastball averaging 95.7 mph.
McNeil¡¯s injury opens the door for Brett Baty, who earned his way onto the roster thanks in part to newfound versatility. The former top prospect adjusted well to second base, a position he¡¯s never played in the Majors. While Baty has struggled to hit the ball in the air at the Major League level -- running a career 52.1% ground ball rate -- he mashed this spring, notching 11 extra-base hits while leading the Grapefruit League with a 1.186 OPS.
3. Red Sox (8 players on IL)
Key injuries: RHP Brayan Bello (right shoulder inflammation), RHP Lucas Giolito (left hamstring strain), RHP Kutter Crawford (right knee soreness), DH Masataka Yoshida (right shoulder labrum tear), RHP Liam Hendriks (right elbow inflammation)
A trio of short-term injuries will test Boston¡¯s pitching depth from the get-go. Bello, Giolito and Crawford combined to throw just one inning this spring. They¡¯ll all miss the first few weeks of the season, thrusting Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb into the starting rotation.
Fitts, the No. 4 starter, posted a 1.74 ERA in an impressive big league cameo last September. Newcomb entered camp as a non-roster invitee, but he pitched his way onto the team, tossing 14 1/3 innings with a 0.63 ERA. Slowed by injury, the 31-year-old Massachusetts native threw just 16 innings between MLB and Triple-A last season.
Practically, the injuries heap more responsibility on the front end of Boston¡¯s rotation, headlined by the new ace, Garrett Crochet. The good news is that the flamethrowing southpaw looked dominant in Spring Training, striking out 30 batters in 15 2/3 innings with a 36.1% whiff rate; he threw five innings of two-run ball on Opening Day.
4. Orioles (7 players on IL)
Key injuries: SS Gunnar Henderson (right intercostal strain), RHP Grayson Rodriguez (right elbow inflammation), RHP Andrew Kittredge (left knee debridement)
The Orioles are hopeful that Henderson¡¯s IL stint will be a short one. Nevertheless, Baltimore begins the year without its best player, who is sidelined for the first time in his career. His production (37 home runs and a 159 OPS+) isn't quite replaceable, but the Orioles will try their best, sliding Jackson Holliday over to shortstop, Jordan Westburg to second and inserting Ramon Ur¨ªas at third base.
The more pressing injury lies in the rotation. Without Corbin Burnes, the hope was that Rodriguez -- ranked seventh on MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 prospects list entering 2023 -- would take a commanding step forward in his third MLB season. That may very well still happen, but we¡¯ll have to wait for Rodriguez to come off the IL first.
Rodriguez¡¯s injury puts more pressure on the auxiliary pieces of the Orioles¡¯ rotation. They¡¯ll need their two offseason acquisitions -- ageless wonder Charlie Morton and NPB veteran Tomoyuki Sugano -- to step up.
5. Braves (5 players on IL)
Key injuries: RHP Spencer Strider (internal brace procedure in right elbow), OF Ronald Acuña Jr. (torn ACL in left knee), C Sean Murphy (fractured rib), RHP Joe Jiménez (left knee surgery)
These aren¡¯t exactly new injuries -- only Murphy suffered his cracked rib in Spring Training -- but they¡¯re impactful. The Braves will navigate the first month or two of the season without their two best players, each on the mend from a long-term injury. Strider appeared in two Grapefruit League games, but he¡¯s still a couple of weeks away from joining the big league club. Acu?a doesn¡¯t have a definitive timeline, but the hope is that he will be back with the Braves sometime in May.
In the interim, two of Atlanta¡¯s top prospects will get a chance to shine. Twenty-two-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver rounds out Atlanta¡¯s rotation after winning the job over Ian Anderson. Smith-Shawver, the organization¡¯s No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, struck out 20 batters in 16 innings this spring. Drake Baldwin, MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 62 prospect, will start the year atop the Braves¡¯ catching depth chart. He posted an .891 OPS in 334 plate appearances last year with Triple-A Gwinnett.
6. Rangers (3 players on IL)
Key injuries: RHP Jon Gray (fractured right wrist), RHP Cody Bradford (right elbow inflammation)
Jacob deGrom is healthy, but much of the rotation has crumbled around him. How¡¯s that for irony? Gray will be sidelined late into May, while Bradford is in the midst of a four-week shutdown from throwing. In response, the Rangers went outside the organization, signing veteran left-hander Patrick Corbin in late March. It¡¯s unclear when he will be ready to join the big league club.
A real opportunity awaits Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, two former first-round picks trying to steer back on track. Leiter revamped his arsenal in the offseason, adding a changeup and a two-seamer to complement a high-octane four-seamer. He saw mixed results this spring, posting a 3.48 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 10 walks in 20 2/3 innings. And then there¡¯s Rocker, healthy again and wielding a wipeout slider. After a rough first few outings, he saved his best for last, striking out eight hitters in four scoreless innings in his spring finale.
7. Pirates (4 players on IL)
Key injuries: RHP Jared Jones (elbow), RHP Johan Oviedo (right UCL surgery/right lat strain), OF Spencer Horwitz (right wrist)
If the Pirates are going to contend this season, their success will almost certainly stem from their starting rotation. Unfortunately, that agenda suffered a blow late in Spring Training, when Jones reported discomfort in his right elbow. The 23-year-old won¡¯t undergo surgery, but he¡¯ll go six weeks without throwing and figures to miss a good chunk of the season.
The Pirates still have Paul Skenes atop their rotation and Mitch Keller behind him, but Jones missing significant time puts them in a tough spot, especially given that Oviedo was already due to miss the start of the season. Oviedo made 32 starts in 2023, but his return from Tommy John surgery was stalled in March by a lat strain. Perhaps the Bucs will turn to Bubba Chandler or Thomas Harrington, the organization¡¯s No. 1 and No. 3 prospects, per MLB Pipeline -- though it would be unfair to expect them to match Jones¡¯ production right away.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh¡¯s lineup took a hit when Horwitz, arguably the team¡¯s top offensive addition this offseason, required surgery back in February. Horwitz is expected back before the end of April, but a Pirates team that finished 26th in OBP last year will miss his .355 career mark.
8. Dodgers (11 players on IL)
Key injuries: RHP Shohei Ohtani (right elbow), LHP Clayton Kershaw (left toe + left knee surgeries), RHP Evan Phillips (torn rotator cuff), RHP Michael Kopech (right shoulder impingement), RHP Tony Gonsolin (back)
It¡¯s unfortunately fitting that the Dodgers wind up on a list like this, considering the injury epidemic they¡¯ve battled over the last few years. Sure enough, they begin the 2025 season without some of their most-trusted arms. Ohtani is taking a long-term view as he works towards an eventual return to the mound. Kershaw recently threw his first bullpen session, but he¡¯ll begin the year on the 60-Day IL. Phillips and Kopech -- two key pieces from the World Series team -- both will be sidelined into April.
On the flipside, no team is better equipped to handle a rash of injuries than the Dodgers, who took the adage ¡°you can never have enough pitching¡± to heart. Offseason signees Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates will slide into high-leverage roles in the bullpen. Dustin May, once the organization¡¯s No. 2 prospect, is healthy again and poised to round out a stalwart rotation. This team should be just fine.