Injuries play a major role in every sport, and MLB is no exception. It's never fun to acknowledge how big an impact injuries have on determining who's left standing at the end, but there's no ignoring that fact. The Los Angeles Dodgers finding a way to win the World Series last season despite all of the pitching injuries they had is the exception, not the rule.
Every team is dealing with injuries this time of year, and none of them should use that as an excuse, but that doesn't mean injuries aren't an excuse. I mean, are you seriously telling me that the Boston Red Sox didn't miss Roman Anthony in the Wild Card Series? Do you really think the Houston Astros would've missed the playoffs if they were healthy down the stretch?
Injuries can help decide which teams advance to the League Championship Series, and these five in particular stick out as the most impactful.
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5) Bryan Woo, Seattle Mariners
Bryan Woo is one of the best players on this list, so it's weird to rank his injury as the least impactful. Ultimately, the choice to have him at No. 5 comes down to how good I believe the Seattle Mariners are even without him.
The Mariners will still enter their Division Series matchup against the Detroit Tigers with George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller as options to start. Woo has been their ace all year long, and Miller, in particular, has had a down year, but I still think the Mariners have more than enough pitching to beat a Tigers team that had trouble scoring runs against an inferior Cleveland Guardians pitching staff, particularly with home-field advantage.
If the Mariners had a harder matchup or had a worse starting rotation arond him, Woo's injury certainly would've been higher on this list. But their rotation is still quite good without him, and the Tigers just don't scare me all that much.
4) Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
For the Philadelphia Phillies to advance to the NLCS, they're going to have to knock out the defending champion Dodgers. Doing so won't be impossible, especially with the bullpen issues that L.A. has, but it'll be a lot tougher knowing that their ace, Zack Wheeler, will be out.
Wheeler is the best pitcher on this list, so putting him at No. 4 might not seem fair, but my reason for this ultimately comes down to the pitching that the Phillies have without him. Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Jesus Luzardo and Aaron Nola form a postseason rotation that most teams in the field would love to have.
Sanchez should get Cy Young votes, Suarez has a ridiculous postseason resume, Luzardo is much better than his numbers suggest and even while Nola hasn't had a good year, his upside is obvious. Wheeler's injury will be felt, but the Phillies should still have enough pitching to get by. They have to simply score runs, which is something Wheeler wouldn't have impacted anyway.
3) Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers had MLB's best record in the regular season despite Brandon Woodruff making just 12 starts. As impressive as that is, the Brewers likely wouldn't have had MLB's best record had Woodruff not thrown a single pitch. Woodruff, a two-time All-Star, had a 3.20 ERA and Milwaukee went 10-2 in his starts.
They have a better rotation than their opponent, the Chicago Cubs, in the NLDS, but it's a lot closer than it would've been had both sides been at full strength. The Brewers have Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester, but who slots in behind them? Chad Patrick? Jacob Misiorowski? Had the Brewers had Woodruff or even Jose Quintana, it feels like this series wouldn't even have been close. The fact that they're out, though, opens the door for Chicago to score some runs.
The Brewers should be fine either way, considering how well they played in the regular season. But if they were to lose this series, their starting pitching will presumably be the reason why. Their offense should be able to score runs against a short-handed Cubs' staff, but can the short-handed Brewers' staff contain a high-powered Chicago offense?
2) Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs were able to advance to the NLDS thanks to their pitching. They held the San Diego Padres to just five runs in a three-game Wild Card series — an astonishing number, especially considering both Justin Steele and Cade Horton combined to throw as many pitches as I did. Steele has been out for most of the year and won't return until 2026, but Horton missing the Wild Card Series was unexpected and felt like a season-defining blow.
It didn't cost them against the Padres, but San Diego wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. In fact, the difference between the Padres offensively and the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago's next opponent, is stark.
Stat | Padres Rank | Brewers Rank |
|---|---|---|
Runs | 702 (18th in MLB) | 806 (3rd in MLB) |
HR | 152 (28th in MLB) | 166 (22nd in MLB) |
OPS | .711 (16th in MLB) | .735 (11th in MLB) |
Say what you want about the Brewers' lack of offensive firepower and the difficulty of stringing hits together at this time of year, but their offense, by all accounts, was much better than San Diego's. The Cubs were able to pitch well against probably the worst offensive team in the postseason, but the Brewers are far from that.
Being without Horton, their best pitcher in the second half, against a much tougher opponent in a longer series feels like a major issue, and one that could result in the Cubs' season ending earlier than they'd like.
1) Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays' reward for winning their division and clinching the AL's No. 1 seed is a date with a New York Yankees team that won as many games as they did during the regular season. MLB's postseason format can be really cruel sometimes, and the Blue Jays certainly got the short end of the stick. That stick becomes even shorter when realizing that Bo Bichette, their All-Star shortstop, will not participate due to a knee injury he suffered against these same Yankees.
George Springer has been their best hitter for most of the year, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is their most popular hitter, but Bichette is probably their most consistent hitter. I mean, he doesn't run as well as he used to, and he's a very poor defender, but despite missing most of the final month due to injury he still finished tied for second in the Majors in hits. All he does is rake.
The Blue Jays have the incredibly tall task of beating a battle-tested and extremely formidable Yankees team without their star shortstop. It'd be tough for them to beat New York even with Bichette, but doing so without him is a whole lot tougher. There's a reason the Yankees are favored. They might not have been had Bichette been able to play. This one undoubtedly stings the most.