Guardians injury updates on Josh Naylor, Tyler Freeman, Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Injuries are piling up for the Guardians, who sent a pair of players to the 10-day injured list on Friday.

Josh Naylor underwent an MRI on Thursday that revealed an oblique strain, according to manager Terry Francona. Naylor first reported the injury prior to Tuesday’s game in Houston. Cleveland’s skipper said Naylor could be sidelined 3-6 weeks.

“That’s extremely tentative,” Francona said. “By his own admission he already feels a little better, which is good.”

But oblique strains are not like injuries to a calf or a quad, where once a player starts to feel good, he can sometimes play through it, Francona said.

“We’re going to have to keep an eye on him, but we don’t want to slow him down,” Francona said. “He’ll get re-checked weekly.”

Shortstop Tyler Freeman, meanwhile, received an MRI on Wednesday night on his injured right shoulder. Freeman felt pain in the shoulder during an early at-bat against Houston’s Framber Valdez and left the game. But reports from the Guardians training staff are positive about his prognosis.

“Structurally he’s good, which is real good because he’s had surgery there,” Francona said. “He has a muscle strain, but he’s already in the training room doing his work today. He’ll also, he’ll get re-checked on Sunday, potentially starting baseball activities.”

The Guardians activated rookie pitcher Peyton Battenfield, who had been out with right shoulder inflammation since May 18. Battenfield was optioned to Triple-A Columbus before Friday’s game.

Starting pitcher Shane Bieber began a throwing program on Wednesday, Francona reported. Bieber, sidelined since July 12 with elbow inflammation, is on the 60-day injured list along with Triston McKenzie, who played catch for the fifth time on Friday.

“Those guys both self-report that they feel really good,” Francona said. “They’re still a ways off, but you’d rather hear that they feel good than they don’t.”