The Toronto Blue Jays have been lucky throughout Spring Training so far, as very few injuries have arisen throughout camp.
This doesn't mean that things have been perfect. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dealt with some minor knee inflammation, Brandon Belt took longer than anticipated to get up to speed while recovering from his own injury last year and Mitch White dealt with a shoulder injury of his own entering Spring Training.
Elsewhere around camp, each of Otto Lopez, Drew Hutchison and Ricky Tiedemann are all recovering from their own ailments.
Lopez, 24, is firmly in the mix for the final bench spot on the Opening Day roster. He had been tearing it up in the World Baseball Classic before Team Canada was eliminated from the tournament by old friend Rowdy Tellez and Team Mexico.
Upon his return from the WBC, Lopez has been dealing with some groin soreness, according to reports.
#BlueJays No. 14 prospect Otto Lopez has some minor left groin soreness coming back from the WBC, so he’ll be eased back in.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 17, 2023
Doesn’t sound too worrying and he’s still very much in the mix for the 26th spot.
Fortunately, Keegan Matheson is not worried and therefore, we should not be either. It sounds like this is going to be minor and Lopez will be back in game action in no time.
Hutchison, 32, is in the midst of a comeback season as he looks to crack the Jays big league roster for the first time since 2016. He has been up and down throughout Spring Training so far and seems to be a long shot to get time in the majors period in the upcoming season.
According to reports, Hutch has been dealing with a left oblique issue. The good news is that an MRI showed no structural damage.
#BlueJays tells us INF Otto Lopez is dealing with some left groin soreness (played a lot at WBC, going to rest him, want to be cautious), and RHP Drew Hutchison has a left oblique issue he’s dealing with. MRI for Hutch showed no structural damage
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) March 17, 2023
Since he is on a minor league contract and he has not looked sharp enough to warrant his selection to the 40-man roster, Hutchison seems ticketed for Triple-A where he will look to rebuild his value.
Earlier in the week, Tiedemann was reportedly dealing with some soreness in his left shoulder. Red flags came up all around Blue Jays Nation, and rightfully so. It sounds like the No. 1 prospect in the system is scheduled to throw a side session in the coming days, which will tell us a lot about where he's at in his recovery.
#BlueJays No. 1 prospect Ricky Tiedemann is now scheduled to throw a side session Saturday.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 17, 2023
It’s been pushed back a couple of times now as he deals with left shoulder soreness, but he’s been throwing on flat ground and we should know more after tomorrow.