How MLB's Big-Name Injury Comebacks Went in Spring Training Week 1

Spring training might represent a fresh start for the fans of each of MLB's 30 teams. But 2014 is still on the minds of several players on those rosters.

Injuries, most of which were suffered last season, continue to dominate the headlines surrounding a handful of the biggest names in the game.

Some have progressed in their rehabilitations to the point where they've gotten back on the field and into exhibition games. These players will be our focus.

But we can't ignore those who are still working their ways toward that point, and we'll take a look at where those players stand as well.

How did those who have seen action in the exhibition season's opening week fare? Let's take a look.

*Note, we are only focusing on established MLB stars. Highly touted prospects dealing with injuries, like Minnesota's Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, were not eligible for this list.

Big-Name Players Still Working Their Ways Back

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Sadly, there's no shortage of big-name talent that has either yet to make its spring debut or, as in the case of San Francisco's Hunter Pence, has seen its spring training come to a screeching halt due to an in-game injury.

Courtesy of MLB.com, here's a look at when we might possibly see these players back in action:

Expected to Be Ready for Opening Day

• OF Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies (Knee surgery)
• OF Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals (Wrist surgery)
• C Jonathan Lucroy, Milwaukee Brewers (Hamstring strain)
• SS Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies (Hip surgery)
• 1B Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds (Quadriceps strain)

Could Be Ready on Opening Day

• 1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (Foot surgery)
• SP Tim Hudson, San Francisco Giants (Ankle surgery)
• OF Nick Markakis, Atlanta Braves (Neck surgery)
• DH Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers (Knee surgery)
• SP Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox (Broken foot)
• SP Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals (Abdominal strain)

Could Be Ready in Mid-to-Late April

• CL Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles Dodgers (Foot surgery)
• OF Hunter Pence, San Francisco Giants (Broken Forearm)
• SP Garrett Richards, Los Angeles Angels (Knee surgery)

Could Be Ready in June

• SP Patrick Corbin, Arizona Diamondbacks (Tommy John surgery)
• SP Jose Fernandez, Miami Marlins (Tommy John surgery)
• SP Matt Moore, Tampa Bay Rays (Tommy John surgery)

Status Unknown

• SP Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers (Elbow, could undergo Tommy John surgery, per The Associated Press via ESPN.com)

OF Shin-Soo Choo, Texas Rangers

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Weekly Stats: 2 G, 2-for-4 (.500), RBI, K

There's not much to ascertain from a few at-bats—especially when he's admittedly not giving a maximum effort—but it certainly looks like Shin-Soo Choo is over the ankle and elbow injuries that hindered him for much of 2014 and ultimately required surgery to repair.

"It's a long spring training," Choo told MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan late last month. "There are going to be some days when I'm sore, but no issues. I'm not worried about it."

A leadoff hitter the past few years, Choo could find himself hitting second between Leonys Martin and Adrian Beltre in what should be a dangerous Texas lineup this year, according to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News.

1B Prince Fielder, Texas Rangers

Norm Hall/Getty Images

Weekly Stats: 2 G, 0-for-4

He may still be looking for his first hit of the spring, but Prince Fielder couldn't care less about his spring numbers. As the hulking slugger told Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he's just happy to be back on the field:

“I didn't get any hits, but I wasn't jumpy or jittery,” Fielder said after his first game in nine months. “I swung with some force. That’s a great feeling. The rest is just timing and getting locked in. You don’t forget how to play baseball.”

Limited to only 43 forgettable games in 2014 by a neck injury that essentially made his left arm useless and required surgery to correct, a healthy Fielder is already drawing rave reviews from newly minted Rangers starter Yovani Gallardo.

"He seems like the same guy from what I remember in Milwaukee," Gallardo told Wilson. "It's the same old Prince." Texas would certainly welcome an appearance by that Fielder, who averaged 38 home runs, 108 RBI and a .932 OPS from 2007 to 2011, when the two were teammates with the Brewers.

SP Matt Harvey, New York Mets

Weekly Stats: 1 GS, 2 IP, 3 K

After an 18-month layoff, Matt Harvey needed only 25 pitches to work two perfect innings against Detroit in his first game back from Tommy John surgery. His command was good, his velocity was great (he got his fastball up to 99 mph) and he showed off a devastating curveball that he's added to his arsenal.

"Things felt so good that the fact I had surgery is completely out of my mind," Harvey remarked to the New York Post's Mike Puma after the game. That might be the most impressive—and encouraging—thing to come out of his return to the mound.

Of course, that optimism should be tempered just a bit.

It was only two innings, and it's not like he faced Detroit's best, as Miguel Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez did not play.

But it certainly looks like Harvey is back to his pre-surgery form, which is great news for the Mets—not so much for the rest of baseball.

"I feel like I never left," Harvey told MLB.com's Anthony DiComo. "I could tell the ball was coming out good. I think I let a few go, but for the most part I was really trying to stay loose and hit my spots, and I felt pretty confident with that."

SP Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Weekly Stats: 1 GS, 2 IP, 2 H

While plenty of scouts were in attendance to watch Cliff Lee's first start since July, it's going to take more than 22 pitches over a pair of scoreless innings against Houston to convince a team to swing a trade with Philadelphia for his services.

"As a starting pitcher, you've got to go out there and throw 100-and-some odd pitches and get deep into games to do your job effectively," Lee told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jake Kaplan after his outing. "Personally, I feel like until I do that, I haven't really proved that I'm able to do it yet."

A strained flexor tendon in his elbow ended his 2014 campaign prematurely after only 13 starts, but the injury didn't require surgery to repair and the elder statesman of Philadelphia's rotation emerged from his first spring outing none the worse for wear.

"My only thing I'm basically looking for is [from] a health standpoint," Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure told Kaplan. "He pitched well and felt fine, so I'm encouraged by that."

You can be sure that the scouts in attendance—who figure to follow Lee around this spring—were encouraged by that as well.

3B Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles

USA TODAY Sports

Weekly Stats: 2 G, 2-for-6 (.333), R, K

You'd think that after consecutive season-ending knee surgeries, Baltimore would be worried about the physical toll that playing third base can have on a player—especially one as vital to the team's success as Manny Machado.

But that's simply not the case.

"Manny needs to play in some games," Orioles manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com's Brittany Ghiroli. "[We want to] try to get as many reps for him as we can because physically it's not a challenge for him. He's in good shape."

After committing a throwing error and going 0-for-3 against Detroit in his first game of the exhibition season, Machado began to shake off the rust in his second outing against Toronto, going 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot—a position in the lineup that he's open to filling during the regular season as well.

“I don’t really care,’’ he told the Baltimore Sun's Eduardo A. Encina and Peter Schmuck. “I’ll go out there and play wherever. I see it as—you've got to hit regardless. I was always taught—don’t ever get mad at where you’re hitting in the lineup. Just go out there and do what you've got to do."

RF Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Weekly Stats: 1 G, 0-for-2

Two at-bats are an extremely small sample size, but Miami manager Mike Redmond couldn't have been happier with what he saw from Giancarlo Stanton in his lone game of the exhibition season thus far.

"He looked great," Redmond told reporters after his Marlins lost 4-1 to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, per The Associated Press via USA Today. "His at-bats were good. His takes were good. His pitch selection was good. He looked fine."

Stanton—whose 2014 season ended in early September after an errant Mike Fiers fastball broke his orbital bone and caused extensive dental damage—was happy with his first real at-bats while wearing a specially designed face guard.

"That's what I went to the lab for—to make sure I got it right so I wouldn't have to be getting a feel for it out there," Stanton said.  It's good for a spring training at-bat—to get your timing to 95-plus (fastball) is always good. I felt good in the box. We're right on track. It was good to be in a game setting again."

C Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Weekly Stats: 2 G, 0-for-6, K

Baltimore is taking it slowly when it comes to All-Star catcher Matt Wieters, who is less than nine months removed from season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Wieters was behind the plate for the first time since his June surgery during an intrasquad game earlier this month but was not allowed to throw the ball past the pitcher's mound (stealing was forbidden).

Even with those limitations in place, he was happy to be back, as he told CSN Baltimore's Rich Dubroff:

"

It felt good to be behind the plate and get some AB’s. It’s fun. It’s what I enjoy doing. It was nice to get out there and be as normal behind the plate without being able to throw the ball to second base.

Once you get a little bit of adrenaline going in a game that’s going, you kind of forget about it. Every other throw in spring training, I’m thinking about the elbow, thinking about the elbow, and once we got going and playing in that game, I was kind of able to forget about it a little bit.

"

Not scheduled to catch an exhibition game until March 17, Wieters will serve as the team's designated hitter until then. Having missed as much time as he did, Wieters knows that it's going to take some time for him to feel like himself at the plate once again:

“Whether I feel good after 20 at-bats, whether I feel like I need 50 or 100 at-bats, when you get a feel when you’re ready to go swinging-wise, then you just kind of feel it,” Wieters said. “You can click in one at-bat, or you can grind through about 100 at-bats before it clicks.”

With the offseason departures of Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis, Baltimore needs Wieters to get as many swings as possible to rediscover the form that he had before the injury last year—when he hit .308 with 10 extra-base hits (five home runs), 18 RBI and an .839 OPS in 26 games.

All spring training statistics courtesy of MLB.com. All other statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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