The Cardinals received excellent news on Jordan Walker this afternoon. An MRI revealed no structural injury in his left knee, supervisor Oli Marmol instructed reporters (together with John Denton of MLB.com). Walker is coping with irritation that’ll shut him down for round per week, however there’s nothing to recommend this’ll be a critical problem. It will have been a freak harm, because the younger outfielder felt the discomfort after stepping on a sprinkler head whereas monitoring a fly ball throughout Tuesday’s recreation.
With three weeks till Opening Day, it appears the 22-year-old shall be on monitor for the beginning of the common season. He’s in line to work because the on a regular basis proper fielder. The previous prime prospect has but to turn into the influence hitter that many evaluators consider he may turn into. Walker has turned in a .255/.317/.423 slash in 643 profession plate appearances. That features a .210/.253/.366 line over 51 MLB video games final season. He had pedestrian numbers (.263/.326/.427 over 377 PAs) in Triple-A as effectively. Walker is younger sufficient that this isn’t but a make-or-break season, however the Playing cards’ transitional 12 months ought to give him an prolonged alternative to cement himself.
A pair different well being updates from round baseball:
Christian Walker felt soreness in his left indirect throughout batting observe earlier than the Astros recreation on Wednesday, supervisor Joe Espada instructed the beat (relayed by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). He’s daily for the second, however the crew will know extra tomorrow after additional testing. Any type of pressure would make a season-opening injured checklist stint doubtless. Walker was Houston’s massive free agent pickup, inking a three-year deal that ensures $60MM. He’s coming off his third consecutive Gold Glove win and hit .251/.335/.468 with 26 homers over 552 plate appearances throughout his last season in Arizona. If Walker misses time, Jon Singleton would get the majority of the primary base reps. Righty-hitting Zach Dezenzo may take some at-bats towards lefty pitching in that scenario.
Twins reliever Justin Topa has had unlucky harm luck for many of his profession. He has undergone two Tommy John procedures and a flexor tendon surgical procedure. A patellar tendon problem in his left knee restricted him to a few MLB appearances final season. Topa is now coping with shoulder discomfort, writes Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Minnesota lifted the righty from Wednesday’s recreation after seven pitches when Topa reported shoulder tightness. Supervisor Rocco Baldelli instructed reporters that the pitcher wasn’t overly involved, so it’ll hopefully be a precautionary elimination, however he’ll go for additional testing tomorrow.
