Top 100 prospects: Injuries & roster moves (2024)

Here is the latest on injuries and roster moves involving MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospects:

LATEST NEWS

No. 5 Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox
Injury: Lower back strain
Expected return: TBD
Boston's top prospect hasn't played since July 30 because of lower back pain, but he's not expected to be off the field too long. In fact, the Red Sox promoted him to Triple-A Worcester on Aug. 11 with Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel (right behind him in the team's prospect rankings). The 21-year-old was leading the Eastern League in hitting and slashing .307/.370/.480 with eight homers and 13 stolen bases in 77 games prior to the promotion.

No. 65 River Ryan, RHP, Dodgers
Injury: Tommy John surgery
Expected return: Late 2025/early 2026
The Dodgers will be without their top pitching prospect for an extended period of time after announcing on Tuesday that right-hander River Ryan will undergo Tommy John surgery. Full Tommy John surgery typically requires a recovery timetable of between 12 and 18 months.

The 25-year-old Ryan, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the club's No. 3 prospect, excelled in four starts after his first big league callup on July 22. The former 11th-round pick posted a 1.33 ERA and struck out 18 batters over 20 1/3 innings but was forced to leave Saturday's start against the Pirates early with tightness in his forearm. (Last updated: Aug. 13)

MORE TOP 100 PROSPECT NEWS
(ordered by ranking)

No. 9 Jordan Lawlar, SS, Diamondbacks
Injury: Left hamstring strain
Expected return: Potentially late August/early September
Two games into a rehab assignment in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League, Lawlar reinjured his left hamstring and is expected to miss six to eight weeks, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said on July 10. The club's top prospect initially injured his left hamstring while legging out a triple in the ninth inning of Triple-A Reno's June 15 game. Lawlar had an MRI exam on June 17 that showed a Grade 1 strain.

The 2021 first-rounder also landed on the IL earlier this year after opening the 2024 campaign with a thumb injury. He played his first Minor League game of the season on May 29. (Last updated: July 10)

No. 22 Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Twins
Injury: Right thumb strain
Expected return: TBD
Rodriguez reaggravated his thumb injury on a swing during his rehab assignment in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League in early July. On July 6, he went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk while starting in center field. He then went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts on July 8 before being sidelined again. The 21-year-old initially landed on the Minor League 7-day IL on June 7 when he sprained his thumb on a slide into second base on a double to left-center field -- which was his first game back after missing a week of action due to a separate hand injury. (Last updated: July 21)

No. 26 Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics
Injury: Left hamstring strain
Expected return: Late August
Oakland expects to know more about next steps for Wilson, rated as the club's No. 1 prospect by MLB Pipeline, in the next week. He began a running progression on Aug. 5, working back from a hamstring strain, but the club plans to be extra cautious with Wilson given the nature of hamstring injuries.

“We want to make sure he’s fully ready to go before we send him out [on a rehab assignment],” manager Mark Kotsay said. (Last updated: Aug. 9)

No. 31 Cade Horton, RHP, Cubs
Injury: Right lat strain
Expected return: 2025
Horton is expected to miss the remainder of the year due to a setback in his rehab from a right lat strain, MLB.com has confirmed. The expectation is Horton will get back to throwing, but given where the calendar is, the 22-year-old getting back to competitive action before the end of the Minor League season would be difficult.

It’s a tough ending to what was shaping up to be a positive season for Horton in his developmental path. The Cubs’ 2022 first-round Draft pick was promoted from Double-A Tennessee to Triple-A Iowa on April 30, after he posted a 1.10 ERA in four starts with the Smokies, with 18 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings. He exited his May 29 start for Triple-A Iowa after logging 20 pitches in one inning (two runs allowed) against Louisville. (Last updated: Aug. 9)

No. 33 Kevin McGonigle, SS/2B, Tigers
Injury: Right hamate fracture
Expected return: TBD
The Tigers moved McGonigle to the injured list with a right hamate fracture on Aug. 12. He was replaced on defense in Aug. 10's High-A West Michigan game after striking out in the first inning. McGonigle fouled off a 1-2 pitch in the at-bat, then asked for time and was seen clutching and shaking his right hand before looking uncomfortable swinging at strike three.

In his first full season, the 37th overall pick of last year's Draft put together a .309/.401/.452 composite line with 25 extra-base hits and 22 stolen bases over 60 games for Single-A Lakeland and 14 for West Michigan. He also drew 46 walks compared to a total of 28 strikeouts. McGonigle turns 20 on Aug. 18. (Last updated: Aug. 12)

No. 34 Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
Injury: Partial tear in right elbow
Expected return: 2025
Painter has progressed to throwing off a mound in Clearwater, Fla., after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late July 2023. He is not expected to return to game action until the 2025 season. Painter will still be just 21 years old on Opening Day next year. (Last updated: July 22)

No. 41 Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates
Promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis
Chandler is scheduled to make his Triple-A debut with Indianapolis on Thursday, as reported by Alex Strumpf. The Pirates' No. 1 prospect yielded one run over seven innings in his most recent start for Double-A Altoona and went 6-7 with a 3.70 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings for the Curve. (Last updated: Aug. 7)

No. 43 Jeferson Quero, C, Brewers
Injury: Torn labrum in right shoulder
Expected return: 2025
Triple-A Nashville catcher Jeferson Quero underwent season-ending surgery for a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, delaying until 2025 the rapid ascent of one of baseball’s top catching prospects.

Quero, 21, dislocated his right shoulder in his Triple-A debut when he dove back to first base. After being examined by Brewers team doctors, Quero sought a second opinion from shoulder guru Dr. Barry Meister, the same surgeon who repaired Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff’s shoulder last fall, and elected for a surgical route that will sideline Quero for approximately nine months. (Last updated: April 10)

No. 57 Jett Williams, SS/OF, Mets
Injury: Right wrist soreness
Expected return: August
Toward the end of April, Williams began dealing with a bout of right wrist soreness, which has kept him off the field beginning April 21. To treat it, Williams received a cortisone injection in early May, but his soreness persisted enough for doctors to administer a second shot later in the month, which also didn't bring Williams back to full health. As a result, he underwent surgery on June 6. Williams is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks. (Last updated: June 7)

No. 67 Luke Keaschall, 2B/OF, Twins
Injury: Right elbow injury
Expected return: 2025
Luke Keaschall will undergo Tommy John surgery after battling elbow issues for much of the season. According to Do-Hyoung Park, the Twins likely knew this needed to happen at some point when they selected the 21-year-old in the second round (No. 49 overall) of the 2023 Draft out of Arizona State.

Minnesota's top-ranked position player prospect did not appear hampered by the injury this season, batting .303 with 15 homers, 48 RBIs, 80 runs scored and 23 stolen bases across two levels of the Minors. Keaschall even replaced No. 2 Twins prospect Brooks Lee at the All-Star Futures Game in July. Although listed as a 2B/OF, the Twins' fifth-ranked prospect played mostly 1B/DH this season due to the injury. By ending his season short, the organization is hopeful that Keaschall will be ready for Spring Training next year. (Last updated: Aug. 9)

No. 72 Edwin Arroyo, SS, Reds
Injury: Left shoulder surgery
Estimated return: 2025
Arroyo is out for the season after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder during Spring Training. In a March 13 Cactus League game vs. the Giants, the 20-year-old was injured diving back to first base during a pick-off throw. (Last updated: May 17)

No. 73 Felnin Celesten, SS
Injury: Left hamate injury
Expected return: 2025
Celesten recently underwent season-ending surgery after experiencing multiple setbacks with a left wrist injury. After further inspection, doctors discovered that the prolonged pain was related to an old injury to his hamate.

"When we went and did the imaging after his first setback, they noticed the remnants of an old injury in there," Mariners GM Justin Hollander said. "They didn't know whether it would prevent him from building back up and playing, or if it was just going to continue to linger. When he felt pain again, the doctor recommended we just remove the remnants of the old hook of the hamate fracture."

The development means Celesten's season will end due to an injury for the second straight year, after he was sidelined at the end of 2023 with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He wound up playing in 32 games in '24, all at the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League, where he slashed .352/.431/.568 (.999 OPS) with three homers, four triples, 10 doubles, five stolen bases, 27 RBIs, 18 walks and 28 strikeouts in 144 plate appearances. (Last updated: Aug. 7)

No. 85 Sal Stewart, 3B/2B, Reds
Injury: Hand
Expected return: TBD
Sal Stewart was placed on the 7-day injured list by the Dayton Dragons on July 17 and is reportedly dealing with a hand injury. The 2022 first-round pick is batting .279 with an .845 OPS, eight home runs and 46 RBIs across 80 games. (Last updated: Aug. 1)

No. 93 Zac Veen, OF, Rockies
Injury: Right thumb injury
Expected return: TBD
Veen, who was out of the Double-A Yard Goats’ lineup for 5 1/2 weeks in May and June, has not been featured in Hartford’s lineup since July 12 because of an injury to the right thumb. Player development director Chris Forbes said he does not know how much time Veen will miss. (Last updated: July 31)

No. 96 Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Pirates
Injury: Forearm soreness
Expected return: TBD
Ashcraft was placed on the injured list on July 12 with recurrent symptoms of lateral forearm tightness. The team got a second opinion from the surgeon of record, Dr. Keith Meister, who did Ashcraft's Tommy John procedure in 2021 and confirmed it was muscle-related on the outside forearm. He is not pitching in games currently, but he is playing catch on flat ground with the hope that he could return to the mound in seven to 10 days. (Last updated: July 23)