Keep an eye on these stars returning from injury

We hate to see star players hurt, causing them to miss a significant portion of the season. Each year, it’s inevitable: some of the best in baseball will be stricken with injury, leading to a prolonged stint on the injured list or the end of their seasons altogether. The 2021 campaign was no exception, but here’s the good news: The stars who were lost to injury for much or all of last season are due back soon.

Here are some players to watch as the 2022 season gets underway, plus a couple of potential difference-makers who are expected back midseason.

Ronald Acuña Jr., RF, Braves

It feels like eons ago that we were watching Acuña wow us with his speed-power combination, launching leadoff homers and stealing bases at a rate that we thought would surely get him into the 40-40 club soon. But it was only last summer. Then, catastrophe -- Acuña tore his right ACL while chasing a fly ball in Miami just prior to the All-Star break, ending his season.

Acuña’s production to this point tells the story: at just 24 years old, he is one of the most exciting young players in the game, with a career .281/.376/.549 slash line, 105 home runs and 78 steals. Let’s hope this superstar can stay healthy after making his return for the defending World Series champs, since the last time he had a full season, he smashed 41 homers and stole an MLB-best 37 bases in 2019.

Byron Buxton, CF, Twins

Buxton, long considered a player with tremendous power-speed potential, has been hurt for much of his young career, but was on his way to possibly demonstrating what he could really do last season. Through May 6, he was hitting .370/.408/.772 with nine home runs and five steals. But then he missed six weeks with a hip sprain, and three games into his return from the injured list, he suffered a fractured left hand when he was hit by a pitch.

In all, Buxton played in 61 games last year, hitting .306/.358/.647 with 19 homers and nine steals. He hasn't played in more than 92 games in a season more than once in his career so far (2019), but with his skillset and potential, it's no wonder the Twins signed him to a seven-year, $100 million contract extension over the offseason.

Now, Buxton is healthy and looking forward to playing an entire season in 2022. If he's able to do so, look out, because he may put up numbers we can't believe to go along with his stellar defense in center field.

Mike Clevinger, RHP, Padres

When San Diego swung a deal with Cleveland to bring Clevinger aboard at the Trade Deadline in 2020, it was part of a flurry of moves that set the baseball world abuzz -- the Padres were going for it all.

Things started out well enough, as Clevinger posted a 2.84 ERA over four starts down the stretch for the Padres the rest of that season. But he was lost for the 2021 campaign when he had to undergo offseason Tommy John surgery, and that ’21 season, particularly the second half, was a disappointment for the Padres, who missed the postseason altogether after being heralded as the heir apparent to the Dodgers in the NL West.

So anticipation is high to see whether Clevinger and the Padres can bounce back. The right-hander is entering his age-30 season with a career 3.19 ERA (141 ERA+) and 27 percent strikeout rate. There are always question marks after a pitcher returns from Tommy John surgery, but that’s all the more reason to keep an eye on Clevinger as he rejoins a San Diego rotation also featuring Yu Darvish and Blake Snell.

Jacob deGrom, RHP, Mets

Watching deGrom miss starts and then finally land on the injured list last year with a forearm injury was painful in and of itself given how overpowering the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner was on the mound. He actually had more hits at the plate (12) than earned runs given up (11)! And his numbers were typically “deGreat”: a 1.08 ERA in 15 starts with an incredible 45 percent strikeout rate.

When he gets back to the mound in 2022, the hope is that we get to see more than 30 starts from deGrom because it seems he can still outdo himself even after the unbelievable performances he’s shown in the past, and even at age 34.

Kyle Lewis, CF, Mariners

The 2020 AL Rookie of the Year was shut down last May due to a bone bruise on his right knee. In 36 games, he hit .246/.333/.392 with five home runs after posting an .801 OPS with 11 homers in the pandemic-shortened ’20 campaign.

With the Mariners making a surprise run that fell just short of the club’s first postseason berth in two decades, Seattle will be excited to have its young center fielder back in the lineup to start 2022.

Corey Seager, SS, Rangers

As he takes the field for the Rangers for the first time in 2022, Seager will be hoping to stay healthy for a full season after missing a good chunk of the last four years with injuries, including a fractured wrist that limited him to 95 games in ’21. Texas will hope for the same after inking the 27-year-old to a 10-year, $325 million contract last December, betting he’ll be durable for the long term.

If he is, look out. Over the past two seasons, Seager hit .306/.381/.545 with 31 homers in 147 games for the Dodgers. He wasn’t the only big free-agent splash the Rangers made. Texas also opened up the wallet to sign another slugging middle infielder, Marcus Semien, and right-hander Jon Gray.

It’s going to be a very interesting year in Arlington, and if the Rangers want to challenge in the AL West, they’ll need Seager to hit like a $325 million man.

Stephen Strasburg, RHP, Nationals

The 2019 World Series MVP has only made seven starts over the past two seasons, missing most of the ’20 campaign with a wrist injury and then having season-ending thoracic outlet surgery on his right shoulder last year.

Big question marks here, to be sure. But while he’s entering his age-33 season, the veteran right-hander had one of the best seasons of his career when he helped the Nationals with the first World Series title in franchise history two years ago. He made 33 starts, taking the mound more than 28 times for the first time in five seasons, posting a 3.32 ERA and 30 percent strikeout rate over an NL-leading 209 innings.

Then came the postseason, in which Strasburg had a 1.98 ERA over 36 1/3 innings. If the Nationals want to return to postseason play in 2022, they’ll need a healthy Strasburg at his best.

Noah Syndergaard, RHP, Angels

The Angels have long needed an ace at the top of their rotation, and with prime Mike Trout and prime Shohei Ohtani in the lineup, the clock is ticking for Los Angeles to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2014.

Enter Syndergaard, who has only made two starts in the last two years due to Tommy John surgery and, later, elbow inflammation. The Halos will be hoping for vintage Thor to show up in 2022 -- the right-hander pitched to a 2.93 ERA with a 27 percent strikeout rate over the first four seasons of his career with the Mets.

It’ll be intriguing to see if Syndergaard returns to form and helps put Trout, Ohtani and the Angels into the thick of the postseason race.

Mike Trout, CF, Angels

It’s truly a shame that Trout, arguably still the best player in the game, has missed as much time as he has due to injury the last few years; he hasn’t played in more than 140 games in a season since 2016.

That being said, he’s still Mike Trout, and he’s still appointment-television when he’s at the plate or in the field. What can he do with a full season, something we haven’t seen from him in six years? After all, though he only played in 134 games in 2019, he launched a career-high 45 homers and won his third career AL MVP Award.

Justin Verlander, RHP, Astros

Verlander only made one start in 2020 and missed the entire ’21 season due to Tommy John surgery. But he said last summer that he is going to pitch “until the wheels fall off,” so it’s no surprise he signed a one-year deal to return to Houston for a 17th Major League season.

He turned 39 in February, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t be effective on the mound after he won his second AL Cy Young Award eight years after his first in 2019, leading baseball with 223 innings pitched while posting a 2.58 ERA and an outstanding 35 percent strikeout rate.

The Astros fell two games short of winning it all last year, and getting Verlander back just might be what they need to finish the job in 2022.

Midseason

While we look forward to seeing the aforementioned stars back on the field for Opening Day or shortly thereafter, don’t forget about a couple of right-handers who are due back midseason and could make a big impact for two teams that figure to be in the postseason hunt.

Mike Soroka, RHP, Braves

Soroka tore his right Achilles tendon three starts into the 2020 season, and then during rehab from surgery to repair it, he suffered a retear last June. The Braves anticipate getting their 24-year-old All-Star right-hander, who owns a 2.86 ERA in 37 career starts, back around the All-Star break.

Kirby Yates, RHP, Braves

The veteran reliever also hasn’t thrown a regular-season pitch since 2020 after needing surgery to remove bone spurs from his elbow while with San Diego, and then after signing with the Blue Jays, undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of ’21.

Though he’s going to be 35 by the time he’s expected back around the All-Star break, Yates led the Majors with 41 saves to go along with a 1.19 ERA and 42 percent strikeout rate for the Padres in ’19. With the way Atlanta's bullpen is shaping up, if Yates finds his form, look out.