Injury updates: Springer, Judge, Moose, Marwin

Here is the latest injury news from around Major League Baseball.

George Springer, Joe Smith, Collin McHugh and Max Stassi, Astros

Springer will fly back on Wednesday to Texas, where he is set to begin a Minor League rehab assignment Thursday for Double-A Corpus Christi. Springer last played May 24, and the Astros are hoping to get him back in the lineup in time for next week’s homestand, which begins June 25 vs. the Pirates.

Smith, who has been out the entire season following surgery in December to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, could begin a rehab stint this weekend, also in Corpus Christi.

McHugh (right elbow discomfort) still wants to refine his delivery and pitches and get more efficient during his Minor League rehab assignment, but his arm feels great. He'll pitch again Friday and Saturday at Corpus Christi.

Stassi (left knee soreness) was scheduled to play back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday at Corpus Christi, which may be his last test before he’s activated from the IL. More >

Aaron Judge and Jordan Montgomery, Yankees

Judge's opposite-field laser over the right-field wall for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a Minor League rehabilitation game on Tuesday evening may clinch the slugger's return to the Yankees' lineup.

Manager Aaron Boone said after Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Rays that "it's certainly possible" that Judge can rejoin the big league squad as soon as Friday, when the Bombers will host the Astros at Yankee Stadium. Judge has not played in the Majors since April 20 due to a left oblique strain. More >

Absolute bomb by Judge in the bottom of the 6th here at PNC field @BryanHoch pic.twitter.com/6coyPdiQ8n

— Jonathan Brady (@JYankees) June 19, 2019

In other Yanks news, Montgomery has returned to New York for an MRI on his left shoulder, one day after cutting short a live batting practice session due to discomfort. The southpaw has been working his way back from Tommy John surgery. More >

Mike Moustakas, Brewers

Moustakas appears to have avoided a serious injury after being hit on the left hand by a 91.8 mph fastball on Tuesday.

“It’s good news,” manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday before the Brewers wrapped an eight-game road trip with the series finale against the Padres. “He’s feeling good today -- normal soreness from getting hit in the finger.”

Counsell said Moustakas’ bruise is primarily affecting the middle finger on his left hand. Moustakas was out of the lineup Wednesday but is expected to play in the upcoming four-game home series vs. Cincinnati. More >

Marwin Gonzalez and Byron Buxton, Twins

The Twins announced Wednesday that they have placed Gonzalez on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. More >

That came one day after the club placed Buxton on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Saturday, with a right wrist contusion he suffered Friday when he was hit by a pitch.

Buxton was hit on the wrist by a 92-mph fastball from Brad Keller in the sixth inning of Friday night's win over the Royals. He initially stayed in the game to run the bases and play defense, but he was lifted for a pinch-hitter before his subsequent at-bat. Although he took swings in the batting cage Monday, the Twins decided they could no longer play short-handed. More >

Trey Mancini, Orioles

Mancini left Wednesday’s game against the Oakland A’s in the first inning with a left elbow contusion after being struck by a pitch thrown by A’s starter Chris Bassitt. More >

Sean Manaea, Jharel Cotton and Jesus Luzardo, A's

Manaea is nearing the finish line on the long road back from shoulder surgery. The left-hander is set to pitch in a simulated game at the A’s Minor League complex in Arizona on Thursday, the final step before pitching in Minor League games.

Meanwhile, Cotton threw a 10-pitch flat-ground session on Wednesday and is expected to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. The right-hander is easing his way back from surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right hamstring, which he suffered while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Luzardo is set to make his first start of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas after logging two rehab outings with Class A Advanced Stockton, but manager Bob Melvin said the youngster will need to do more than build up his pitch count to get a callup.

“We want to make sure we get him to 100 pitches. But he’s going to have to have results, he can’t just go out there and pitch,” Melvin said. “If the results are there, we will look to try to get him here. I’m not going to put a timetable on it right now.” More >

Adalberto Mondesi, Royals

Mondesi left Tuesday’s 9-0 win over the Mariners with right groin tightness, aggravating what had been an injury that he was dealing with late last week. He is considered day to day, though he was held out of Wednesday’s series finale and did not take part in any pregame workouts.

Mondesi received treatment and will be re-evaluated when the club returns to Kansas City, where the Royals begin a four-game series against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday. More >

Joey Gallo, Scott Heineman and Jeffrey Springs, Rangers

The Rangers have assigned Gallo (left oblique) to the Arizona Rookie League Rangers. That will allow him to face live pitching against other teams.

Heineman has also been assigned to the Rookie League club. He has been sidelined for most of the season while recovering from left shoulder surgery.

The Rangers also placed Springs on the injured list on Wednesday with left biceps tendinitis. Springs had been bothered by the issue for the last few days. More >

Sean Newcomb, Ender Inciarte and Kevin Gausman, Braves

Newcomb will be permitted to throw side sessions and partake in normal baseball activities over the next few days, but the Braves opted to place the left-hander on the 7-day concussion injured list four days after he was hit in the back of the head with Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto’s 102-mph line drive.

Inciarte packed his equipment bag Wednesday and prepared to travel to the team’s Spring Training complex in North Port, Fla., where he’ll spend at least a week progressing toward a Minor League rehab assignment. He has been sidelined with a lumbar strain since suffering the injury while sliding into second base during a May 14 game against the Cardinals.

Gausman will also spend the next week working out in North Port. The veteran starter was placed on the injured list last week with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. More >

Felix Hernandez, Sam Tuivailala and Hunter Strickland, Mariners

While issues with his sore right shoulder continue to slow Hernandez’s return, the veteran right-hander got good news from his latest MRI test on Wednesday, and he said he’ll continue pushing to get back in the Mariners' rotation this season.

Hernandez said the latest setback -- coming in his first Minor League rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma last Friday in San Antonio -- was in a different spot than the right lat strain that had sidelined him for five weeks.

Tuivailala is seeing a light at the end of the tunnel in his road back from a ruptured right Achilles tendon, as the 26-year-old will begin a new Minor League rehab stint at Class A Everett on Friday night at the AquaSox’s home opener against Salem-Keizer.

Strickland's rehab schedule initially had him on pace to come off the 60-day injured list on Wednesday, but the 30-year-old had to have a pocket of fluid drained from the injured area surrounding his strained right lat muscle after trying to throw live batting practice last week. More >

Hector Velazquez, Nathan Eovaldi, Heath Hembree and Steve Pearce, Red Sox

Velázquez came up big for the Red Sox in his return from the injured list on Tuesday, firing four strong innings. However, Velazquez's back tweaked on him again at the end of the outing and he had to go back to the IL prior to Wednesday's game.

Eovaldi played catch for a third straight day in his comeback from a recent bout of biceps tendinitis. Eovaldi, who had right elbow surgery in April, could be close to throwing off a mound again.

Hembree (right elbow extensor strain) is eligible to be activated from the injured list on Saturday but is more likely to return at some point next week.

Pearce, who is coming back from a lower back strain, continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday and went 0-for-3. There's a chance Pearce will be activated this weekend. More >

Justin Wilson and Jeurys Familia, Mets

The Mets are sending Wilson for tests after scratching him from a rehab appearance Tuesday due to continued elbow soreness. Wilson, who has been battling an issue in his left elbow since April, will likely undergo an MRI.

Familia, by contrast, will not undergo an MRI. The Mets placed him on the IL on Tuesday with a Bennett lesion -- essentially a bone spur -- in his right shoulder. More >

Yandy Diaz, Rays

The Rays placed Diaz on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, retroactive to Monday, with right hamstring discomfort. More >

Jordy Mercer, Tigers

Mercer performed running drills on the field prior to Wednesday’s game, and manager Ron Gardenhire said the Tigers shortstop has one more day before the team considers sending Mercer out for a rehab stint, which would likely last up until or through the All-Star break. More >

Pablo Lopez and Caleb Smith, Marlins

Miami is now without three members of its Opening Day rotation, with Lopez (right shoulder strain) joining Smith (left hip inflammation) and Jose Urena (hernaited disc in back) on the injured list Wednesday. More >

Smith, however, could be nearing his return. The left-hander threw a bullpen session Tuesday, his first since going on the 10-day injured list on June 7.

Before rejoining the Marlins’ rotation, Smith will make at least one Minor League rehab start. That could be as early as Monday, the day the Marlins have a scheduled off-day. However, it is unclear where Smith would pitch because Class A Advanced Jupiter also has a scheduled off-day. Triple-A New Orleans and Double-A Jacksonville, however, are both home that day. More >