The Atlanta Braves' 2026 season got dealt a serious blow before pitchers and catchers even report for spring training. On Sunday afternoon, the team announced that starting shortstop Ha-Seong Kim had suffered a hand injury that would require surgery, with an expected recovery time of four to five months.
Losing a starter for months hurts at any time of year. But it especially stings when baseball isn't involved in any way: According to MLB.com's Mark Bowman, Kim suffered the injury when he fell on a patch of ice near his home in South Korea. Talk about bad luck. If it helps ease the sting at all, Kim can at least rest easy in the knowledge that this is hardly the first time a baffling injury has befallen a Major League player. Far from it, in fact.
Ha-Seong Kim joins the very long list of weirdest injuries in MLB history
LHP Aroldis Chapman, 2022: A bad leg tattoo
Chapman already had plenty of tattoos, and tried to add a new one — a portrait of his sister on his left calf — late in the 2022 season. This time, though, things went wrong: Chapman's leg got infected, requiring a stint on the IL as the wound cleared and his fever subsided.
RHP Zach Plesac, 2021: 'Rather aggressively ripping off his shirt'
The quote above came courtesy of then-Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who had no other way to describe how a member of his starting rotation had landed on the IL with a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb. Apparently, Plesac somehow managed to get his shirt caught on a chair by his locker while trying to take it off, tweaking his thumb in the process.
LHP Jesus Luzardo, 2021: Video games are a full-contact sport
Who among us hasn't gotten way too into a round of Mario Kart? After giving up six runs in three innings in a start in 2021, testing revealed that Luzardo had pitched through a fracture in his left pinky finger — an injury he suffered after banging it on a desk while playing video games in the A's clubhouse.
LHP Jose Quintana, 2020: When washing dishes goes wrong
Quintana was just trying to help out around the house, and he missed the first month of the COVID-delayed 2020 campaign as a result. Not only did he manage to slice open the thumb on his pitching hand, requiring five stitches, but he cut through the digital sensory nerve as well. Yikes.
SS Carlos Correa, 2019: Needs a new masseuse
It began as ordinary soreness, costing Correa a few days out of the lineup in the middle of May. But when that soreness refused to go away, further testing revealed that the Astros shortstop had actually sustained a fractured rib from a massage appointment gone awry.
OF Yoenis Cespedes, 2019: Lost a fight with a wild boar
It was shocking enough when then-Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen told media that Cespedes had fractured his ankle after stepping into a hole on his ranch in Florida. But this story turned truly wild when the New York Post later reported that the injury occurred while Cespedes was in the middle of an altercation with a wild boar. Shockingly enough, Yo's relationship with the team never really recovered.
C Salvador Perez, 2018: Tried to carry too much luggage at once
The Royals had to begin the 2018 season without their All-Star catcher, after Perez suffered a partial tear of the MCL in his left knee while trying to tote some luggage up the stairs at his Kansas City home. The male urge to try and carry everything in a single trip remains undefeated.
LHP Madison Bumgarner, 2017: Dirt bike accident gone wrong
If Madison Bumgarner strikes you as the kind of guy who would spend his offseason riding dirt bikes, well, you're not wrong. But while this particular pastime was nothing new for the lefty, it came back to bite him in 2017, when he was forced to miss nearly two months of action after bruising his ribs and spraining his pitching shoulder in a crash.
RHP Clay Buchholz, 2013: Sabotaged by his own baby
"The night we got back from the road trip, just got in bed and had the little girl with me and I feel asleep like this [with her in the crook of his arm] instead of on my back like I usually do," Buchholz told ESPN. The result? Irritation in the AC joint of his pitching shoulder that he simply couldn't shake, sending a previously stellar 2013 season off the rails. The righty never again reached those same heights.
1B Kendrys Morales, 2010: The world's worst walk-off celebration
This one might be the most tragic entry on this list. Morales was in the midst of another stellar season in 2010, punctuated by a walk-off grand slam against the Mariners in late May. But as he leapt onto home plate, he broke his left ankle, missing not only the remainder of 2010 but all of 2011 as well. To his credit, he managed to spend eight more years in the Majors, but who knows what his prime would've looked like had he stayed healthy?
RHP Joel Zumaya, 2006: Got way too into Guitar Hero
Zumaya burst onto the scene in 2006, a triple-digits fastball making him an instant sensation for the AL champion Tigers. That meteoric ascent was slightly derailed when he tweaked his wrist while rocking out during a Guitar Hero session, an issue that cost him three games of the ALCS.
OF Sammy Sosa, 2004: Sneezed too hard
How strong was Sosa during his playing days? In 2004, he sneezed so hard that he literally sprained a ligament in his back. It was serious enough to land him on the IL, though he still made the All-Star game that year.
OF Marty Cordova, 2002: Fell asleep in a tanning bed
Look, the regular season is a marathon, and it's important to attend to some self-care whenever you get the chance. At least that's how former Rookie of the Year Marty Cordova saw it. The problem: Cordova accidentally fell asleep in his tanning bed, suffering sunburn so severe that he wasn't allowed to play in day games for a couple of weeks in order to keep his skin out of harm's way.
RHP Steve Sparks, 1994: Attempted to tear a phone book in half
There's a reason why this trick is typically left to professional strongmen: Turns out it's really, really hard to tear a phone book in half. Sparks found that out the hard way, dislocating his shoulder during spring training in 1994 — before he'd even thrown a pitch in the Majors. He'd get to the Show eventually, don't worry.
OF Rickey Henderson, 1993: Gave himself frostbite
How do you manage to get frostbite in August? You leave an ice pack on your foot a little too long. At least that's what happened to Henderson in 1993, costing him a weekend series while the ailment healed.
OF Glenallen Hill, 1990: Scared of spiders
No, seriously: Hill landed on the IL in 1990 after falling through a glass table and suffering cuts and bruises to his knees and elbows. As to how he fell through the table in the first place: He'd apparently just woken up from a nightmare in which he was being chased by spiders, and in his confusion he lost track of where he was.