Knock on wood, but the Cleveland Guardians have not had to deal with a ton of injuries to the pitching staff at the start of spring training. The most notable player nursing an injury is relief pitcher James Karinchak.
Manager Stephen Vogt revealed at the beginning of camp that Karinchak would be delayed in his throwing program due to ongoing shoulder discomfort. We now have a little more information on the injury as Vogt gave an update on Karinchak's progress on Monday.
"[Karinchak] was reevaluated [on Sunday], and good news, they give him a cortisone shot to take care of some of the inflammation. So, that's going to kind of help him get over the hump. Hopefully, he will start a throwing program soon."
Vogt did admit that there isn't a full timeline of when we could see James back on the mound pitching in live spring training games. However, Cleveland's manager did overall appear to be optimistic regarding the progress Karinchak has been making.
Karinchak had a rocky 2023 season. He did finish with a 3.23 ERA in 44 appearances and his fastball velocity was one of his strong pitches. However, his offspeed did not retain the vertical break that we've seen in the years past.
As Vogt said, getting Karinchak healthy is their number one priority and any sort of evaluation of his pitching will come after that. Hopefully, for Karinchak and Cleveland's sake, that time isn't too far in the future.
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