Didi Gregorius to miss Opening Day and likely April after shoulder injury

The spring training of good feelings is over. At the very least, it’s on hold, as the Yankees learned on Tuesday afternoon that shortstop Didi Gregorius would miss Opening Day with a shoulder injury. Gregorius will be shut down from all baseball activities for two weeks. This timetable puts the entire month of April in jeopardy, as well. Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters that he expects Gregorius to miss approximately six weeks with the strain.

According to Joe Girardi, Gregorius suffered the injury in the World Baseball Classic while turning a double play. He was actually throwing from second base. With Andrelton Simmons and Xander Bogaerts on Team Netherlands, Gregorius had very little playing time at shortstop. Working out at second base allowed him to expand his defensive versatility and move out from behind the designated hitter position, but it clearly opened up some risk, too.

Injuries that take place away from then Yankees’ camp are always tough. Any injury is bad, but these sometimes feel avoidable. While there’s no telling whether Gregorius would have had a healthy spring training, it’s safe to assume that he would not have been playing at the keystone in Tampa.

As Andrew Mearns noted yesterday, this isn’t the first time that the Yankees have been snakebitten by the World Baseball Classic. In 2013, Mark Teixeira suffered a wrist injury that effectively turned out to be season-ending. Let’s hope that Gregorius recovers faster.

Earlier today, Matt Provenzano examined what a long-term injury to Gregorius could entail for the Yankees. While there’s no word on an immediate replacement, it’s fair to speculate that the spotlight will now be on Ronald Torreyes, Rob Refsnyder, Ruben Tejada, and maybe even infield prospect Tyler Wade (the team is quite fond of him).

Bryan Hoch also noted that the Yankees will have Starlin Castro work out at shortstop in the coming days, so he could be in the mix, too. Top prospect Gleyber Torres is understandably not a candidate to break camp with the Yankees, having not played a single game above A-ball.

We’ll have more to come as the story develops. Our takeaway? Things could be worse, but they’re not ideal as they stand.