Minor League Injury Report – April 2024

April 9, 2024 Dave Funnell General, In The News, MiLB 0

Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays, Spring Breakout game, Fort Myers, FL, March 16, 2024. Photo credit Scott Greene.
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The Minor League Baseball season is underway, and with it comes the injuries that happen to the multitude of players in the various levels of play. Here are the most significant of those that require some monitoring.

Jordan Lawlar, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks

Lawlar is a highly regarded prospect within the organization. The team had aspirations of him being an integral part of the Diamondbacks’ roster this season and improving upon last season’s poor debut. Unfortunately for him, that resurgence will have to wait, as he suffered an injury while fielding a ball in a spring game.

He tore the ligament in his thumb in an unfortunate turn of events. Essentially, he was trying to field a groundball and jammed his thumb on the ground. The team still has high hopes for Lawlar and expects him to get called up and contribute. The injury should keep him out for two to three months, at which time he will likely need time in Triple-A before an eventual call-up. He is a good player to buy low on in dynasty leagues due to the timing of this injury.

Lawler is graded as a Tier 1 prospect and is the team’s number one-rated prospect.

Daniel Espino, RHP, Cleveland Guardians

Espino came into the world of baseball with a ton of promise. With an electric fastball and a dynamic slider to boot, he was looking like a front-of-the-rotation pitcher with immense upside. Unfortunately, injuries have plagued him in recent years, and will continue to do so in 2024.

This is the second surgery on his shoulder in as many years, and this one will also cost him an entire season’s worth of playing time and development. The end of April will mark the two-year anniversary of his last appearance in a minor league game. With no set timetable, he could be out of action until the same timeframe in 2025 and then some. It’s fair to wonder if he will ever live up to the potential he once had.

Espino is graded as a Tier 3 prospect and is the team’s number five-rated prospect.

Jeferson Quero, C, Milwaukee Brewers

Quero had himself a successful 2022 season. He finished with sixteen home runs and ten stolen bases alongside a healthy .262 batting average while playing for Double-A Biloxi. His 2024 season started poorly, however, as he suffered an injury to his shoulder while avoiding a tag during a pickoff attempt at first base. The extent of the injury wasn’t good as the diagnosis came back with some bad news.

While the severity of the subluxation isn’t quite yet known, the fact of the matter is that this will take some time to heal. The timeline for him could vary, depending on if an escalated injury occurs. There is a chance that he needs surgery for his labrum, but that’s pure speculation. While it’s important to note the details of this injury concerning Quero, it’s equally important to remember that with William Contreras on the roster, the team does have the luxury to slow-play Quero’s return. They wouldn’t want to further injure an important part of their future.

Quero is graded as a Tier 2 prospect and is the team’s number four-rated prospect.

Junior Caminero, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays

One of the best prospects in baseball, Caminero’s start to the season in the minor leagues was somewhat surprising. Deemed ready to start with Tampa Bay by some, his demotion to Durham did raise some eyebrows. Remembering that playing within the Rays’ franchise, the reasoning behind some decisions is never truly known, yet they usually work out for the best. This one, however, may not. Early on in the season, Caminero suffered an injury that will sideline him for a little while.

While it’s great news that he shouldn’t miss much time, it’s still somewhat discouraging that it happened in the first place. The Rays are lucky that he should be back in action soon enough. Whether or not that happens is another story.

Caminero is graded as a Tier 1 prospect and is the team’s number one-rated prospect.

Brooks Lee, SS, Minnesota Twins

Coming into the 2024 season, there were high hopes for Lee. He finished last year with a combined sixteen home runs and seven stolen bases in both Double-A and Triple-A. The thought process was to give him some additional experience in the minor leagues before finally elevating him to Minnesota. That plan got derailed almost immediately, as he suffered an injury that would require significant time away.

The good news here is that back spasms are not the hardest injury from which to change a player’s evaluation. These spasms, while painful in their own right, are unlikely to cause any long-term ailment and could be quite easy from which to recover. The major difficulty here is that injury will take away from the time needed for Lee to fine-tune himself for the Twins. This will set him back about a month before he can get back on the field and complete his training. All that being said, the future is bright for him, and with Royce Lewis away with his injury, there’s an additional chance of getting his opportunity once he’s healthy.

Lee is graded as a Tier 2 prospect and is the team’s number three-rated prospect.

Dave Funnell

Dave Funnell covers the Minnesota Twins minor leagues for Prospects1500. Located just south of Toronto in the city of Hamilton, he's an hour away from Buffalo (and the Bisons). He's been a fan of baseball his entire life and doesn't have a favorite team, which hopefully gives way for objectivty in analysis. Dave is in multiple keeper fantasy baseball leagues and is active on Twitter at @sportz_nutt51.

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