Baseball players, managers and executives alike saw the problems that came from the rapid ramp-up to the 2020 season.
They're expecting that something similar will happen in 2022.
The MLB lockout this offseason ultimately delayed the start of spring training and the regular season. But even with the later Opening Day, players had less time this season to gear up for the campaign in a spring training format than in a typical season.
For that reason, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal shared on "The Athletic Baseball Show" that a common sentiment around the league is that there will be injuries in April, and lots of them.
"It's been a very unusual offseason, and now we're getting ready for a very unusual start to the season," Rosenthal said. "And I will say this right out of the gate: I am quite worried about injuries in April. And when I say that, I am reflecting the concerns of executives and coaches and managers and players throughout the game. This has been a shortened spring training, we saw what happened in 2020 with the quick ramp-up. It's a concern to say the least, and that's going to be something to watch at the start of the season."
Players spent the offseason trying to stay in as good of shape as possible so they could hit the ground running when camps opened. Even with that effort, getting into game action – especially regular-season game action – is a different animal than working out alone or with a few other people.
Teams will be allowed to have expanded rosters early in the season to accommodate for that truncated spring training, but that might not be enough to completely circumvent the issue.
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