Suzuki's knee strain offers a promising recovery outlook, with the outfielder avoiding significant downtime and continuing baseball activities.
The Chicago Cubs have been holding their breath over the past few days regarding Seiya Suzuki’s knee injury.
Suzuki left Japan’s quarterfinal game against Venezuela on Saturday after trying to steal second base in the first inning. He came up gingerly and walked off the field with a noticeable limp. The Cubs slugger unsurprisingly left that game early.
In recent days, the Cubs didn’t really know much about Suzuki’s knee injury. They were in a wait-and-see mode regarding his knee. After getting checked out by team doctors, Suzuki was set to undergo an MRI on Monday.
The MRI came back and revealed a strained PCL for the outfielder.
According to Cubs insider Bruce Levine, Suzuki entered the clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon still limping. But Levine reported that the Cubs outfielder didn’t need any sort of assistance.
For the most part, this is a pretty good outcome for Suzuki.
A low-grade PCL strain should only keep him out for a few weeks. A Grade 1 PCL strain typically heals within 10 to 14 days, while a Grade 2 PCL strain typically heals within three to four weeks.
Now, we don’t know what type of PCL strain Suzuki is recovering from. However, manager Craig Counsell described his PCL strain as “minor in nature.” So, he shouldn’t miss much time, if any, with this PCL strain.
The most encouraging news in all of this is that Suzuki will not be shut down from baseball activities. He will continue to participate in all baseball activities, and the Cubs will see how he progresses throughout the week.
Given that the team is unsure if Suzuki will begin the season on the 10-day injured list, that is a good sign that he could be available for the start of the season. Even if he does land on the IL ahead of Opening Day, he shouldn’t miss too much time.
“We’re going to treat it right now, see how he kind of progresses throughout the weekend,” Counsell told reporters in Arizona. “That will kind of determine if an IL stint is necessary. He’s limping right now, so that means there is probably some swelling in there. It’s gotten better from that perspective already. But he is going to continue his activities. He’s not being shut down right now. He’s going to play catch today.”
All in all, the Cubs got some pretty encouraging news about Suzuki’s knee injury on Tuesday. He likely won’t miss too much with his strained PCL.