The New York Liberty star reportedly underwent a knee procedure on Thursday.

Breanna Stewart didn’t have the best Unrivaled season — at least not by her standards. The two-time WNBA MVP still averaged 19.1 points and 11 rebounds per game, making her the league’s sixth-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder, but her efficiency was down and her Mist Club finished with a 5-9 record and missed the playoffs.

Stewart, one of the two co-founders of the new professional women’s basketball 3-on-3 league, was also eliminated in the first round of its 1v1 tournament. She fell to Washington Mystics rookie Aaliyah Edwards 12-0.

Now, there’s a possible explanation for the 30-year-old’s uncharacteristic struggles.

Breanna Stewart underwent a knee scope on Thursday

Per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Stewart “underwent a successful minor scope on her right meniscus” on Thursday. Philippou reported that, per team sources, Stewart will be back on the court in time for WNBA training camp. A knee scope is a minimally invasive surgical procedure where a surgeon uses a thin, lighted tube with a camera inserted through small incisions to view and treat problems inside the knee joint.

Stewart appears to have waited until the conclusion of the Unrivaled season before undergoing the scope. And, considering training camp is scheduled to begin in just over six weeks, on April 27th, the recovery timeline should be pretty quick.

Breanna Stewart wasn’t her usual impactful self in Unrivaled this season

Though Stewart was still one of the league’s better players, she shot below 50% from the field in 9 of her 14 contests with the Mist Club, and only exceeded 23 points twice. She also wasn't named to the All-Unrivaled First or Second Teams (Napheesa Collier, Chelsea Gray, and Kayla McBride were named to the First Team, and Angel Reese, Rhyne Howard, and Skylar Diggins-Smith were named to the Second Team).

While averaging 19.1 points and 11 rebounds still made Stewart one of the league’s more productive players, given the fact she typically dominates the WNBA’s MVP conversation, the fact that she wasn’t in the mix for All-Unrivaled honors reflects a drop-off in her performance this winter.

And, while it’s always possible that her struggles were simply the result of a shooting slump, reports that Stewart underwent a knee scope appear to reflect that she was dealing with some sort of knee issue. The Liberty star doesn’t have a known history of knee problems, but she did undergo surgery in 2019 to repair a torn Achilles.

The good news for Breanna Stewart is that she should be back in time for the beginning of the Liberty’s title defense — and, she can sit back and watch Unrivaled’s postseason, which begins on Sunday, March 16th, from the comfort of her home.

Which twenty-six Reds will we see?

A good bit has changed about the nature of the Cincinnati Reds roster mix since last we gave our best guess at who might be included on it come Opening Day.

Spencer Steer’s shoulder maintained its issues, and he received a cortisone shot back on March 1st. Andrew Abbott, though, has seen his shoulder progress well enough that he threw a pair of IP in a AAA game just yesterday. Rhett Lowder is still behind schedule, unfortunately, but at least it looks like he’s moving forward and not backwards. Speaking of ‘back,’ Tyler Stephenson headed for an MRI after lingering back pain.

Rule 5 draftee Cooper Bowman was sent back to the Oaksacvegas Athletics, while former top prospect Noelvi Marte was officially sent down to AAA.

That’s a lot to process, as are the risks of losing players in camp as non-roster invitees if they aren’t selected to start the season. Same goes for players with no options remaining, as they very well could be scooped up on waivers if not placed on the roster from day one.

With Opening Day now less that two weeks away (!!), here’s our latest, greatest estimate of which Reds will make up the Opening Day roster.

Catcher

I’ve got Tyler Stephenson (1) still on here alongside Jose Trevino (2), as all initial reports on Ty Steve’s back are that his issue is minor. It may mean we see more of Jose in the lineup early on, so far there’s nothing to suggest these aren’t the two backstops they’ll carry from day one.

Infielders (5)

Elly De La Cruz (3) and Matt McLain (4) are the cornerstones of this team, and they’ll form the middle infield. Christian Encarnacion-Strand (5) and Jeimer Candelario (6) seem to be locks in the corner rotation, while Santiago Espinal (7) has solidified his spot as the do-it-all infielder in reserve.

Gavin Lux

Gavin Lux (8)! He’ll see time at 3B, 2B, LF, and even at DH when the time is right. Since I’ve got Spencer Steer beginning the year on the IL, Lux’s versatility will help offset that usually created by having Steer on the roster for the time being.

Outfielders (5)

TJ Friedl (9) is back and healthy and poised to be the everyday CF and leadoff man all 4-WAR style once again. He’ll be flanked by Jake Fraley (10) and Austin Hays (11) most days, with Stuart Fairchild (12) a RHH option on days when Terry Francona wants to stack those up against southpaws. That brings us to Blake Dunn (13), whose RHH ability wins out in this mix over Will Benson since Lux, a LHH, is filling the ‘move anywhere when it’s time to switch’ role previously occupied by Steer, a RHH. In other words, I think Francona will choose to have one more righty bat around than another lefty.

Starting Rotation

Hunter Greene (14) will start on Opening Day, as well he should. He’ll be flanked in some order by each of Nick Martinez (15), Brady Singer (16), and Nick Lodolo (17) for sure at this point. Since the season is long as all heck, I just don’t think the Reds will rush back Andrew Abbott at anything less than ‘full stretched out,’ so I expect him to begin on the IL and miss a turn or two through the rotation - if anything, that may make him even more valuable down the stretch in August/September. I think the Reds carry Carson Spiers (18) as something of ‘starter on an expected bullpen day’ for the time being.

Bullpen

I don’t believe Graham Ashcraft (19) starts the year in the minors - rather, I think he’s carried as the piggyback guy for Spiers’ turn through the rotation with the expecation that he can fill-in for multiple IP when needed in a role akin to how Martinez began last year. Brent Suter (20), Sam Moll (21), and Taylor Rogers (22) form the LHP corps in the ‘pen, while Alexis Díaz (23) will resume his role as the closer. RHP options Emilio Pagán (24) and Scott Barlow (25) have guaranteed money on their deals, so they’ll be down there until they prove ten times they shouldn’t be, leaving one final spot that I’m expected to be filled by Tony Santillan (26) - he pitched well enough last year to deserve it and he’s out of options, so that’s a no-brainer.

Notes

Steer and Abbott are the two notable omissions here. Despite how dismal the Reds have begun seasons in recent memory (and how much that has folded any and all optimism entering those years immediately), I just think they’ll play it safe with them (and Lowder). Abbott getting ~27-28 starts is still very much viable, as is Steer surpassing 550 PA.

Ian Gibaut being back in camp is cool, and he’s fanned 8 against a lone walk in 7.0 IP so far this spring. He’s not on the roster, however, as a NRI on a minor league deal, so I don’t expect him to beat out the rest of the options above. That said, I do think he’s showing enough right now to firmly be in the mix as the first bullpen arm promoted when the inevitable dings happen to the rostered names ahead of him.

Chase Petty has looked really, really solid so far in camp, and at this rate he’ll make his debut (and more) as a Red at some point this year...just not on Opening Day or in the first few turns of the rotation, assuming all goes well elsewhere.