Cubs announce OF Seiya Suzuki will begin season on injured list with strained right knee
Suzuki suffered the injury during the World Baseball Classic while attempting to steal second base in Japan's matchup with Venezuela.
The Chicago Cubs confirmed what many suspected would happen after Seiya Suzuki injured his right knee in last week’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. Suzuki will begin the 2026 MLB season on the injured list with a strained PCL, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced on Monday . [ Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season ] Suzuki, 31, sustained the injury while attempting to steal second base during the first inning of Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela on March 14.
He left the game and was officially diagnosed upon returning to the Cubs’ spring training camp three days later. While the strain is reportedly minor and the Cubs don’t expect Suzuki to miss much time, he wasn’t going to be ready for Opening Day on Thursday versus the Washington Nationals. "Opening Day, it's not going to happen,” Counsell said on Saturday, via MLB.
com . “Once you get past Opening Day, we've got to make a decision, does it just make sense to give him some time? We've got time to make that decision.
” Yesterday Seiya Suzuki played catch wearing a knee brace. "That's a brace that's made for this injury specifically," Craig Counsell said this morning. "It's just something that should make him feel a little more comfortable with the knee.