Archive for Injuries

As usual on Mondays, I will look at a few players coming off the DL that are owned in less than 50% of ESPN’s leagues.

Rajai Davis (hamstring, 37% owned): In Toronto, center fielders Colby Rasmus (wrist, 69% owned) and Davis are both on the DL right now. They should come off the DL in a couple weeks.

Toronto will play Rasmus regularly if he is available, limiting Davis’ value. Besides not getting regular playing time, Davis is coming off a hamstring injury. Toronto may have him take it easy for the rest of the year, thereby limiting his steals. In the mean time, Mike McCoy is getting the starts in CF.

Justin Smoak (nose, 19%): Justin looks to take back the Mariner’s 1B position from Mike Carp’s when he returns in around 2 weeks. Smoak’s fantasy value is being driven down by his his 20.7% K%. The K%, to go along with his low BABIP (0.253), is putting his AVG (0.231) under attack. With a below average AVG and league average home run ability (10.2 HR/FB), he will not cut it as a MLB 1B. He doesn’t look like a league keeper and hopefully your team has found a better solution for 2011 at 1B.

J.D. Drew (shoulder, 2%): Drew has played the most games in RF for the Red Sox this season. He is currently in the minors rehabbing and looks to join the Red Sox on Thursday when the rosters expand. I have not been able to find Boston’s plans for him, but it looks like there is not an everyday position for him when he returns. Josh Reddick has 2 more home runs in 20 less PA than Drew. Also he has a 0.283 AVG vice Drew’s 0.219. If I have a DL position available, I may pick him up and see how the situation unravels once he returns. If he starts, keep him. If he is just a bench player, ditch him.

Freddy Garcia (finger, 18% owned) – Garcia is a nice play for a team desperate for a few extra Wins. Freddy comes off the DL tonight (Monday) against Baltimore. While his peripheral stats aren’t the greatest, he is a good enough pitcher to keep the Yankees in a game to pick up a few Wins.

Carlos Carrasco (elbow, 5% owned) – Carrasco looks to be coming back in a week or two. If the Indians are still in the playoff picture will determine if he pitches this season. If they are still breathing, he could be used for a couple of starts. If not, he will likely be shut down for the season.

There are all kinds of little injury-related news that I’d like to get to, and today feels like a good day to do just that:

– While Tommy Hanson may say his shoulder is fine, a mere nine-pitch bullpen session begs to differ. Sure, he can say that he intended to throw a short session all along, but nine pitches just feels really abrupt. Also, wouldn’t you at least throw ten instead of stopping at nine? Color me skeptical, but Hanson is still on pace to get a rehab start in this weekend. As a Hanson owner, let’s hope this latest respite heals him up enough to finish the season strong.

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The following is a list of players on the DL that should be owned in keeper leagues in preparation for next season. These are players have no value for the 2011 season, but could be kept or used for trade bait for 2012.

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Grady Sizemore (38% owned – Knee and Hernia ): It has be reported by the team that Sizemore is returning to the Indians in early September. He should then retake his position in CF from Kosuke Fukudome. He is no longer a threat to steal bases, 0 SB so far this season, but has been a decent source of power, 10 HR in 232 AB. He needs to be owned in all deeper and AL only leagues.

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Last week, we were looking at catchers who were having great months in August and had the potential to help fantasy teams, if even just for a short time.  One of the names mentioned was White Sox backstop A.J. Pierzynski who was  hitting .410 for the month with one home run and six RBI.  Unfortunately though, the timing could not have been worse as Pierzynski was hit on the wrist and missed a few games before the team placed him on the 15-day DL.  His owners, and those that were about to take a chance on him, were left to sift through the waiver bin, hoping to land someone that could carry them through.  But why search other teams hoping that their starters were somehow still available, when you could just as easily fix the problem “in-house”?  It’s time for Tyler Flowers. Read the rest of this entry »

The waiver wire for available players on the DL is getting thin right now. Most teams are shutting down players that could possibly come off the DL for the last couple weeks of the season. Here is a look at a few players owned in less than 50% of all leagues.

Justin Morneau (45.1% ESPN) – Justin is in AAA rehabbing for the next week. After that assignment, he should be getting a call back to the majors. There is no reason not to own him in any league.

Jose Tabata (20.2%) and Alex Presley (4.2%) – Both of these two Pirates look to be coming off the DL in the next week or so. They will replace Xavier Paul in the Pirates outfield, but how they will split up their playing time is still unknown. They will probably be platooned with Presley (LHH) to face RHP and Tabata (RHH) to face LHP. They both look to be a decent source of SB (Tabata 14 SB in 257 AB and Presley with 4 SB in 81 AB). Also, Presley has hit for 0.333 in his few plate appearances this season.

Jed Lowrie (11.9%) – Lowrie joins the Red Sox tonight (Monday). The key to his return is how Marco Scutaro and him will split playing time at SS. Terry Francona has stated that the two will split time depending on match ups. Lowrie has multiple position eligibilities, but it may not matter if he doesn’t get much playing time.

Jordan Schafer (1.0%) – Once he gets off the DL in about a week, he will be the everyday center fielder for the Astros. For an owner in need of steals (15 SB in 196 AB), he is a viable option, especially in deep or NL only leagues.

Stephen Strasburg (12.3 %) – Pick him up now if available. He looks like he is going to pitch a few MLB games. With other pitchers possibly being shut down at the end of season, he could be valuable for an owner in the playoffs or one making a final push up in the standings.

Adam Wainwright (1.7%) – He is not going to pitch this season, but for keeper leagues he should be added for next year. He has several uses during the off season even if an owner doesn’t plan on actually using him for a keeper. He could be added to a trade to sweeten the pot. Also, depending on the league rules, he could be held right until the keepers are selected as insurance in case one of the other keepers gets injured.

Ross Ohlendorf (0.0%) – The waiver wire for starting pitchers returning this season is slim. Ohlendorf is set to pitch later this week for the Pirates. If you are in need of SP, I would pick him up, hold him on the DL for a game or two to see how he performs and then possibly move him to your roster or drop him.

Today I will look at a few players on the DL owned in less than 60% of all leagues.

Luke Scott (22% ESPN, 18% Yahoo) and Vladimir Guerrero (44% ESPN, 57% Yahoo) – The DH situation in Baltimore will be in flux for the next couple weeks. First, Luke Scott is to come off the DL tomorrow, and with Vlad on the DL, he looks to move into Baltimore’s DH spot. Luke has had mixed results in 2011. He is hitting HRs (and getting the Runs and RBIs that go with them) with 9 so far in just over 233 PA. The problem is that in those 233 PA he has hit only 0.233 and continues to have no speed (11 career SB). He does give an owner the flexibility of being qualified at 1B and OF which Vlad does not. He looks to be a nice pick up for the next couple weeks since he is to be the everyday DH.

The problem is that he will probably lose his DH spot once Vlad returns and will move into a LF platoon with Pie and Reimold. While Vlad has not hit as many home runs (7) as Scott so far this season, his 0.279 AVG is more appealing. Scott looks to be a nice replacement for Vlad owners, but he doesn’t look to have a permanent place in the Orioles lineup.

John Danks (33% ESPN, 46% Yahoo) – Danks is scheduled to return from DL on Wednesday to make his first start since Jun 25. He was having an OK season before he went on the DL. His 3-8 record is not great (it was 0-8 at one point), but he has been pitching a better than it shows. He has a 4.21 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and a 2.32 K/BB. Those stats are decent enough for a starter in deep or AL only leagues.

Stephen Strasburg (1% ESPN, 13% Yahoo) – Recent reports from the Nationals state that Strasburg may be back in September for a few starts. He may be a nice replacement for a pitcher that may be shutdown late in the season. If you have room on the DL, it might be a good time to pick him up and see if he will pitch in the majors this season.

Brett Anderson (36% ESPN, 48% Yahoo) – Stick a fork in him and send him to the WW. TJS has him out for this season and I see very little reason to have him as a keeper for next season. An owner might as well keep a player that plans to start the season off the DL.

This past weekend, two pitchers for the A’s, Rich Harden and Brandon McCarthy, returned to the team after stints on the DL. Here is a look at how each pitcher performed and what to expect from them over the rest of the season.

Rich Harden (9.4% ESPN, 11% Yahoo) – Rich made his 2011 debut on Saturday by striking out 6 and not walking anyone in 6 IP.

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Brandon Webb (shoulder): Brandon made his 4th AA rehab start of the season last Friday and it wasn’t good:

2/3 an inning, 4 ER, 4 hits, 1 K, 1 BB.

The rest of his AA starts haven’t been much better.

4 games, 9.75 ERA, 6 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 over 12 innings.

I still think there some possible value left in Brandon and he may be worth keeping in a DL spot for a while longer. First, his ERA is bloated from a 0.444 BABIP and 58% LOB%. Currently his FIP is at 4.75, while not great, it is half of his ERA. Second, his fastball speed has been between 85 to 87 MPH in his starts so far. This value may seem low, but his average speed was around 88 MPH during his better MLB seasons. While the speed is down a bit, it is not that far off his previous values.

There is no reason to totally give on him over 12 innings, but I would be keeping track of his progress and see if he can begin to put it together.

Phil Hughes (shoulder): Phil’s ownership rate has crept up as he is getting closer to coming off the DL. In his first rehab start his fastball speed topped out at 95MPH. In his second start, it was a little slower topping out at 93 MPH and was in the range of 91 to 93 MPH. Even though he threw a little slower the second time out, his fastball speed is up ~3 MPH from his starts earlier this season. His fastball seems effective since he has gotten 10 minor leaguers to strike out in 7.2 IP.

He should be continue to be held in a DL spot and his minor league outings monitored.

Johan Santana (shoulder): It is looking more and more likely that Johan will pitch just a few starts, if at all, in 2011. His return time line has been moved back and with the Mets out of contention, there is no real reason to rush him back.

Bartolo Colon (hamstring): Tonight (Monday), Bartolo will pitch a simulated game to see how healed his hamstring is right now. After the outing, the Yankees will then have a better idea of a return timeline.

Jonathan Broxton (shoulder): Jonathan was supposed to join the Dodgers soon, but he felt stiffness in his shoulder on Saturday. It looks like his return will be put on hold. He was supposed to return to the Dodger’s closer role, but not for now.

It wasn’t as if Shin-Soo Choo was really tearing it up for fantasy owners this season anyway, was he?  After back to back 20-20 seasons with a .300 average, the 28 year old Korean-born outfielder ran into a little trouble this year.  He struggled out of the gate in April and was then arrested on DUI charges at the beginning of May.  The apparent shame perpetuated the sub par play and now here in June, after being hit on the hand  by Giants’ starter Jonathan Sanchez, is on the DL with a broken thumb that will require surgery and will be sidelined for a minimum of six weeks. Read the rest of this entry »