Major League Baseball is heading into its home stretch of the 2024 season and plenty of post-season races will excite fans as we march toward October.

Just one game separates the Yankees and O’s in the AL East, the Guardians, Twins, and Royals are heading for an exciting finish in the central and just three games separate the Dodgers, D-backs, and Padres in the NL West.

However, one thing that could affect these races are injuries and those have been piling up this week for many of baseball’s top contenders.

Christian Yelich announced on his X account that we will undergo season-ending surgery.

The Brewers expect him to be ready for Opening Day in 2025. “By doing this sooner, it does allow him to hopefully be ready for Opening Day next year,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said before the Brewers faced the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night.

Yelich was in the middle of an elite season in which he was named an All-Star and was leading the National League with a .312 BA and a .406 OBP.

Another contender got some positive news on the injury front as the red-hot Houston Astros found that an MRI on 3rd baseman Alex Bregman showed no structural damage.

Bregman was in the middle of an insane stretch which saw him slash .356/.396/.778 with five home runs and eight RBI.

Houston’s star 3rd baseman is expected to miss all three games the Astros play against the Chicago White Sox this weekend but is not expected to go on the IL.

One of the Astros rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers got some injury news that wasn’t so good when they accounted that Tyler Glasnow would be placed on the 15-day IL with right elbow tendinitis.

Any time you hear of an elbow injury it sounds alarms but manager Dave Roberts expects him to return when his IL stint is over.

Some noncontenders also had some injuries on Friday as the Pirates lost Andrew McCutchen in their 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners. McCutchen was placed on the IL after suffering a knee injury while running to first base.

Los Angeles Angels 3rd baseman Anthony Rendon finds himself back on the IL after a bruised elbow. Rendon has not played more than 58 games since signing a seven-year $245 million contract with the Angels.