• We’re only a week into MLB spring training and injuries are already becoming a concern for the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, other American League teams are feeling optimistic.
• The AL West is wide open with changes in Houston and a great pitching staff in Seattle.
• 2024 playoff participants Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals hope to build on their surprising success.

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Three weeks before opening day and the biggest story in Major League Baseball is the rash of injuries that have hit the New York Yankees. Now, other American League teams are looking to take advantage of the Yankees’ misfortune.

Which teams are dealing with injuries?

On Tuesday, March 4, Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil was shut down by the team for at least six weeks with a lat strain. Even if all goes well after that time, Gil will likely need another month or more to get up to speed.

In addition, third baseman DJ LeMahieu and slugger Giancarlo Stanton could both miss opening day. It’s making spring training rough so far at Steinbrenner Field.

In the Boston Red Sox camp, a nagging shoulder injury has kept star Rafael Devers out of action. He hasn’t played a game yet, which may push him into a designated hitter role to start the season. It’s a move he openly opposed when former Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman was signed last month.

How are things looking in the AL West?

Bregman’s old team is moving a few pieces around. Jose Altuve is now an outfielder for the first time in his career. The long-time second baseman and nine-time All-Star will get the bulk of his playing time in left field, in front of the famous Crawford boxes at Daikin Park.

Also in the American League West, the Seattle Mariners are going to run it back with nearly the same team that finished a game short of the playoffs in the last two seasons.

It’s all about pitching in Peoria, Arizona, and the M’s have the rotation to get the job done. Logan Gilbert is even talking about playoffs already.

“I think we have better pitchers than most teams and a deeper rotation too, and bullpen,” said Gilbert. “So if we make it in, I really think we are one of the teams people don’t really want to face in the playoffs.”

Why are there big expectations in Detroit?

The same could be said about the Detroit Tigers, who made the playoffs last year and knocked out the Astros. They’ve added starter Jack Flaherty to a rotation featuring Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.

Flaherty returns to Motown where he started last season, before being traded to the Dodgers for their World Series run. He’s already thinking big back in Motown.

“I think my expectations are always through the roof –– no matter what’s gone on in my career, no matter where we’re at,” Flaherty said. “And then to come back here, what we were able to do last year, I was able to bounce back and kind of turn some things around from the year before, and I get to work with Skub [Tarik Skubal] every day.”

With opening day fast approaching on March 27, injuries like the kind the Yankees and Red Sox are dealing with can level the playing field. And because of that, it gives the Mariners and Tigers a reason to feel optimistic.