There can be no silver lining for those who lost Jose Ramirez to a fractured hamate bone over the weekend. Their first-round pick is now out for more than a month, and no matter how shallow the league, there’s no accounting for that loss.
Worse yet, the injury comes only two weeks after consensus best player in Fantasy, Aaron Judge, was lost to a stress fracture in his rib and a week after Ronald Acuna’s hamstring put him out of commission again. Between those three and Oneil Cruz (fractured hand), the IL is as abounding in star power as it’s been all year.
Those of us who’ve managed to dodge those bullets can indeed see a silver lining, though, and it’s that Hunter Brown is at long last set to return from a shoulder strain Tuesday. The undisputed Fantasy ace made only two starts before landing on the IL in early April.
Cal Raleigh (strained oblique), meanwhile, is also expected back Tuesday, as are Yainer Diaz (strained oblique), J.P. Crawford (bruised hand) and Kodai Senga (lumbar spine inflammation). Those players obviously command varying degrees of interest, with only Raleigh being an absolute must across the board, but my point in mentioning them is that it doesn’t make sense to rank them here since they’ll be active by the time you can actually do anything about it. I’m going to put Casey Mize (strained adductor) in the same category even though he’s not being activated until Wednesday. He would have already come off the IL Sunday if not for a rainout, so the chances of the Tigers pulling back on him seem remote.
I’ll remind you once again that the order here is more about how impactful the player will be when healthy than how close he is to returning, though both factors carry some weight.
| 1 |
Elly De La Cruz
|
| strained hamstring – testing himself on the bases early this week to determine if he’s ready for a rehab assignment | |
| 2 |
Ronald Acuna Jr.
|
| strained hamstring – has already missed about a week with an injury that cost him two weeks earlier this year; should return in late June | |
| 3 |
Aaron Judge
|
| stress fracture in rib – about two weeks into an injury that will be reassessed in 4-6 weeks | |
| 4 |
Jose Ramirez
|
| fractured hamate bone – expected to miss 5-7 weeks, which puts him out until the second half | |
| 5 |
Francisco Lindor
|
| strained calf – has been playing in simulated games as he nears a rehab assignment, could return before the end of June | |
| 6 |
Oneil Cruz
|
| fractured hand – fractures are non-displaced, which will hopefully put him on the closer end of the 4-to-6 week timetable | |
| 7 |
Max Fried
|
| bone bruise in elbow – ready to resume throwing off a mound; first session will be “touch and feel” as he progresses toward rehab assignment | |
| 8 |
Hunter Greene
|
| bone spurs in elbow – will begin rehab assignment Thursday, may need a month to build up but should return before All-Star break | |
| 9 |
Tyler Glasnow
|
| back spasms – still no word on when he’ll resume throwing following an injury that seemed minor at first; out until the All-Star break at least | |
| 10 |
Garrett Crochet
|
| strained lat – mixed messages about injury, from it being “a lot worse” than first revealed to it being asymptomatic; should return in second half | |
| 11 |
Munetaka Murakami
|
| strained hamstring – about three weeks into 4-to-6-week timetable, so we should hear talk of him resuming running soon | |
| 12 |
Corey Seager
|
| concussion – generally banged up after home plate collision, seemed like he might avoid the IL at first, so may require only the minimum seven days | |
| 13 |
Konnor Griffin
|
| flexor strain – has been throwing at team’s spring training complex, could return before the end of the month | |
| 14 |
Ryan Helsley
|
| elbow inflammation – has looked good in two rehab appearances, so you can expect him back at some point this week | |
| 15 |
Edwin Diaz
|
| loose bodies in elbow – will throw first bullpen session this week, trending toward returning right around the All-Star break | |
| 16 |
Blake Snell
|
| loose bodies in elbow – began playing catch over a week ago; had same less-invasive procedure as Tarik Skubal and now nearly a month into recovery | |
| 17 |
Teoscar Hernandez
|
| strained hamstring – resuming baseball activities this week and could go on rehab assignment this weekend, expected to beat initial one-month timetable | |
| 18 |
Eury Perez
|
| adductor strain – initial timetable was eight weeks, but he’s set to begin rehab assignment Thursday after missing only three | |
| 1 |
Brent Rooker
|
| bone bruise in knee – cortisone shot will hopefully speed up recovery, allowing him to return when first eligible | |
| 2 |
Brandon Woodruff
|
| shoulder inflammation – scheduled for another rehab start Tuesday after iffy showing in Complex League; Sunday return possible | |
| 3 |
Kris Bubic
|
| elbow soreness – felt something in shoulder in rehab start, but resumed throwing Sunday when no structural damage was found | |
| 4 |
Spencer Strider
|
| elbow inflammation – verified to have no structural damage; will be reevaluated after four weeks, which likely puts him out until at least August | |
| 5 |
Cole Ragans
|
| elbow impingement – newest setback Friday has him slated for more testing; return is entirely up in the air but likely won’t be in the first half | |
| 6 |
Roman Anthony
|
| sprained wrist and finger – still hurts to swing, but he feels like he’s making progress; hard to imagine he’ll return before the All-Star break | |
| 7 |
Vinnie Pasquantino
|
| fractured hamate bone – has already undergone surgery; 4-to-6-week timetable will put him out until second half | |
| 8 |
Will Smith
|
| neck inflammation – not expected to be a long-term absence, but he’s lost an increasing number of at-bats to Dalton Rushing as the year has progressed | |
| 9 |
Mickey Moniak
|
| ankle tendinitis – doing most baseball activities but still not changing directions while running; likely still has a few weeks of recovery ahead | |
| 10 |
Emilio Pagan
|
| strained hamstring – has been throwing bullpen sessions and should begin facing hitters this week, with an eye on returning before the end of June | |
| 11 |
Mick Abel
|
| elbow inflammation – looked good in first rehab outing with five strikeouts in three scoreless innings; likely to need at least two more | |
| 12 |
Shane Bieber
|
| forearm fatigue – newest rehab start was best one; one more to go | |
| 13 |
Matthew Boyd
|
| torn meniscus – shoulder soreness canceled weekend return, but he’s ready for another bullpen session Tuesday and should return by the end of June | |
| 1 |
Logan Henderson
|
| strained back – no updates since his injection two weeks ago, making a June return unlikely | |
| 2 |
Kyle Teel
|
| sprained knee – set to begin rehab assignment Tuesday; suffered the knee injury in an earlier one in which he was rehabbing a hamstring strain | |
| 3 |
Daulton Varsho
|
| wrist inflammation – has received cortisone shot; doesn’t seem like the sort of injury that will sideline him for long | |
| 4 |
Trent Grisham
|
| strained hamstring – doing light exercises but won’t know severity until imaging results come in | |
| 5 |
Spencer Schwellenbach
|
| bone spurs in elbow – has begun throwing program; no word on rehab assignment yet, so likely out until August, at least | |
| 6 |
Nick Pivetta
|
| flexor strain – increased throwing distance and intensity a week ago, still trending toward second-half return | |
| 7 |
Justin Steele
|
| UCL revision surgery – scheduled to throw weighted balls this week and then will progress to actual ones, could potentially return in August | |
| 1 |
Luis Robert
|
| herniated disc – back has been responding to treatment, and he’s been doing some hitting and running; sounds like he could return in second half | |
| 2 |
Trevor Story
|
| sports hernia – was expected to miss 2-3 months as of May 21 surgery, so looking to return at some point in the second half | |
| 3 |
Joe Musgrove
|
| Tommy John surgery – back to playing catch as of late May, still hopeful of returning in second half | |
| 4 |
Seth Lugo
|
| concussion – CT scan came back negative after he was hit in the head by a liner Wednesday, but he wound up on the IL anyway; should be a short absence | |
| 5 |
Brendan Donovan
|
| strained groin – no status updates in June; at least report, he hadn’t been cleared to run yet | |
| 6 |
Giancarlo Stanton
|
| strained calf – tweaked injury soon after he resumed running, which could set back return by several weeks | |
| 7 |
Noah Schultz
|
| patellar tendinitis – threw bullpen session Wednesday and beginning rehab assignment Tuesday, which should last multiple starts | |
| 8 |
Bailey Ober
|
| flexor strain – began playing catch last week, should resume throwing off mound this week, and go on rehab assignment soon thereafter | |
| 9 |
Jorge Polanco
|
| Achilles bursitis – earlier rehab assignment was cut short due to continued soreness, but he’s expected to resume it this week | |
| 10 |
Addison Barger
|
| elbow inflammation – on verge of a rehab assignment, which could be a lengthy one given that he’s appeared in one game since early April | |
| 11 |
Heliot Ramos
|
| strained quadriceps – has been building up as a hitter and runner, and is now about ready for a rehab assignment | |
| 12 |
Grayson Rodriguez
|
| back inflammation – injury isn’t considered serious, but he wasn’t providing much reason for optimism even before it | |
