Every year in MLB, we seem to lose a handful of marquee players to significant injury.
2014 was no different, as plenty of high-profile talents were sidelined due to various ailments. Those injuries not only robbed baseball fans of seeing some of the game’s greats, but they also happened to greatly affect the standings.
But if there is one beauty of an injury, it’s the road back, and spring training will be the first opportunity for a few injury-riddled stars to get back out on the diamond. Although just exhibitions, the spring will provide these players with a chance to ease their way back to their best form.
Stars like Joey Votto, Prince Fielder and Matt Harvey will be hoping for a healthy and productive spring, while the pairs of Manny Machado and Matt Wieters and Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez will be looking to enter the season ahead on the right foot.
Each of the aforementioned players has the ability to completely change the landscape of their respective team’s seasons, making their returns to the field critical developments to follow throughout spring training.
Let’s take a closer look at each player’s injury situation and what exactly we’ve been missing over the last year.