Related items

• Verlander placed on Mets IL with low grade muscle strain near pitching shoulder

  Offseason acquisition Justin Verlander has been placed on the New York Mets injured list with a low grade muscle strain near his pitching shoulder.

  The Mets made the announcement on Thursday, the Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season, citing a "low grade teres major strain" with the 40-year-old reigning Cy Young Award winner to be reevaluated next week.

  Verlander will be able to continue to throw at "moderate intensity" in the meantime, with the pitcher seeking treatment on the issue after Wednesday's bullpen session where his velocity fell.

  "This isn't best-case scenario," Verlander told reporters in Miami where he was scheduled to pitch on Saturday against the Marlins. "But I would think this is probably second-best case. Very minimal."

  The 2022 World Series champion, who crossed from the Houston Astros in the offseason, said the issue had been lingering.

  "Looking back, it's something that was lingering, but it's spring training and it's very normal to work through stuff, so I didn’t give it much credence," Verlander said. "I just thought it was something I was working through. My last start was able to go out and pitch through that, so I got over that hurdle.

  "In my bullpen yesterday, I still felt a tiny bit of something. When I looked back, when I thought I was over it and still felt something, I connected the dots and my velocity was down a bit in my last start.

  "That was the main thing where I was like 'well something's going on to cause my velocity to be down one or two miles an hour'.

  "I've dealt with a lat [lateral injury] before a couple times in my career. It's not something to mess around with at all. I missed three months one time. In my mind it was to be prudent and smart and get it looked at."

  Verlander finished 18-4 in a near career-best 2022 season, posting a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings for the Astros. He joined the Mets after they lost Jacob deGrom in a free agency move to the Texas Rangers.

  The right-hander watched on from the dugout as the Mets opened their season on Thursday with a 5-3 win over the Marlins.

• MLB storylines to watch: Astros look to continue legendary run, and can anyone deny Ohtani?

  Coming off arguably the most entertaining World Baseball Classic ever, the 2023 Major League Baseball season promises to deliver yet again as 30 teams battle it out for two World Series spots.

  Reigning champions the Houston Astros wrote themselves into the record books last season by reaching the American League Championship Series for the sixth consecutive year, and while they may have lost their Cy Young Award winner, they have re-tooled and will expect strong development from their cast of young stars.

  While they are the deserved favourites, the San Diego Padres and New York Mets have pushed all their chips into the middle and are in World Series-or-bust mode, joining the New York Yankees as the league's three most expensive payrolls.

  The World Baseball Classic showed its not only the United States where the talent lies, but Japanese fans in particular will be keeping an extra close eye on proceedings as superstar Shohei Ohtani looks to take home his second AL MVP and Masataka Yoshida and Kodai Senga enter the rookie ranks.

  With plenty of interesting storylines to choose from, it only makes sense to start with the kings of the castle.

  Astros remain the team to beat

  On their way to the 2022 World Series title, the Astros advanced to the final four teams for the sixth consecutive season. 

  It is the second-longest streak in MLB history, only bettered by the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s as they did it on eight consecutive tries, although there was a one-year gap in the middle due to the 1994 playoffs being cancelled in the strike season.

  This sustained period of excellence has been led by future Hall-of-Famer Jose Altuve and a strong supporting case of Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, as well as former star Carlos Correa and the future of the franchise Yordan Alvarez, while their starting pitching has been almost unmatched.

  In 2022, Houston had two pitchers finish top-five in AL Cy Young Award voting with winner Justin Verlander and fifth-placed Framber Valdez, and while the former has left, they also unearthed high-upside rotation pieces Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia.

  Add in their dominant bullpen, led by Ryne Stanek and Ryan Pressly, as well as the best rookie in the last season's playoffs – Jeremy Pena – and the free agent signing of former MVP Jose Abreu, and this Astros team does not figure to be going anywhere.

  Will the Padres or Mets be able to spend their way to a title?

  The Mets boast the most expensive team in the sport this season, with a combined payroll of $357million – $75m more than their cross-town rivals, the second-placed Yankees ($272m).

  They have taken some significant risk by committing a combined $86.6m to their two ageing aces as 38-year-old Max Scherzer and 40-year-old Verlander take home $43.3m each, but with six Cy Young Awards between them, it is likely to be money well-spent.

  The Mets will be hurt by losing star closer Edwin Diaz for the season after tearing up his knee celebrating a WBC win with Puerto Rico, but they have 28-year-old slugger Pete Alonso on a bargain deal as he enters his final years of arbitration before an inevitable monstrous extension.

  Meanwhile, the Padres come in at the third-most expensive team at $249m, and while they do not have the Hall of Fame-level talent leading their pitching rotation like the Mets, they may have the best batting line-up in the game.

  Their four All-Stars leading the way – Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis, Juan Soto and Manny Machado – could all have MVP-calibre seasons, and they give the Padres a real chance at being this season's highest-scoring team.

  Can anybody deny Ohtani his second MVP?

  If he was not already the biggest star in the sport, Ohtani's brilliant performance in guiding Japan to their third World Baseball Classic cemented his status as the top dog.

  An All-Star designated hitter with 80 home runs across the past two seasons – a total that has only been exceeded by Aaron Judge (101) and tied by Vladimir Guerrero Jr (80) – Ohtani also emerged as one of the sport's most dominant pitchers in 2022.

  His 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings was just 0.1 behind league-leader Carlos Rodon (12.0), while also posting the sixth-best ERA (2.33) among qualifying starters.

  It is the kind of two-way dominance not seen at this level since Babe Ruth, and it took a historic season from Aaron Judge to deny Ohtani his second consecutive MVP.

  Judge finished with 16 more home runs than any other player, breaking the American League and New York Yankees single-season record while also posting a gaudy batting average of .311 as he flirted with a Triple Crown.

  If he can replicate that kind of season, he will prove he really is one of the greatest hitters of his generation and will likely earn the recognition again, but the overwhelming likelihood is some regression from the Bronx bomber.

  Even with Judge's fine campaign, voters still viewed it as a neck-and-neck race with Ohtani as his combined value as essentially two All-Stars in one roster spot makes his argument almost infallible – especially if his Los Angeles Angels finally make the playoffs.

  As long as he can remain healthy, expect Ohtani to lift his second AL MVP as he heads into perhaps the most anticipated free agency in American sports since LeBron James' move to Miami.

  Will new Red Sox signing and WBC star Yoshida be the top rookie?

  A bevy of super-talented American prospects including Baltimore Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll are expected to emerge as top talents this season – but no rookie should have higher expectations than Boston Red Sox signing Yoshida.

  Yoshida, 29, is a four-time All-Star in Japan's top professional league, and boasts a career batting average of .327 with 133 home runs in his six seasons with the Orix Buffaloes.

  The Red Sox ended up the highest bidder for his services, forking out a five-year contract worth $90million, on top of a $15.4m posting fee to the Buffaloes, and they were given a sneak peek at the World Baseball Classic.

  En route to Japan's third title – while no other country has more than one – Yoshida earned a spot on the All-Classic team by breaking the RBI record with 13 in seven games, while slashing .409/.531/.727 and hitting a pair of home runs.

  He is not the only Japanese veteran trying to make his mark as a rookie this season, as 30-year-old New York Mets starting pitcher Senga will have every opportunity to become a star after signing a five-year, $75m deal with one of the most-watched teams in baseball.

• Mets pitcher Diaz expected to miss 2023 season after injuring knee in Puerto Rico celebrations

  New York Mets pitcher Edwin Diaz is expected to miss the entire MLB season after suffering a serious knee injury while celebrating a Puerto Rico win in the World Baseball Classic.

  Diaz left the field in a wheelchair after injuring his right knee while celebrating Wednesday's win over the Dominican Republic, with his team-mates visibly upset by the incident.

  On Thursday, the Mets revealed Diaz – who penned a five-year, $102million contract with the team in the offseason – had undergone surgery after sustaining a complete patellar tendon tear.

  "Edwin Diaz underwent successful repair of the patellar tendon in his right knee today," read an update from the team. "He is expected to begin a formal rehab program in about a week."

  Earlier on Thursday, Mets general manager Billy Eppler suggested the closer – widely considered to be the best in the game – could be sidelined for around eight months, a timeline which would rule him out for the entire 2023 season.

  Eppler noted some athletes have returned from similar injuries within a six-month timeframe, but added such cases were "more the exception than the rule".

  Diaz took to social media to update his fans after the surgery, writing on Twitter: "To all my beloved fans, especially the Mets fans, I want to let you know that I am doing well and healing. 

  "I feel blessed and grateful for your support with messages and prayers, thank you very much!  I can't wait to see you guys in NY again and play those trumpets."