Rockies' Jake Bird: Suffers left oblique strain

Bird suffered a left oblique strain while throwing a bullpen session Monday, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports.

Bird will have to bow out of an invitation from Team Israel for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, and he's probably also going to be unavailable for the start of the 2023 regular season. The 27-year-old reliever posted a 4.91 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 42:23 K:BB over his first 47.2 major-league innings in 2022.