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Welcome to our final injury report for spring training!

With less than a week to go until opening day, final preparations are in order.

If you’ve got your draft this week, it’s time to do your last minute cramming to ensure that your team ends up being the envy of all others.

If you’ve already drafted, you can start looking at your opening day lineup. I love that first look at my team after the draft. I can then start endlessly debating with myself about who gets the nod versus the bench in the first action of the season.

Injuries factor into all of this so let’s see what’s going on as we take our final steps towards real, meaningful baseball!

Spring Training Injury Report: March 29

Fantasy Baseball Injuries
Player
Position
Team
Notes
Evan Gattis  DH Houston Astros February hernia surgery; Questionable for opening day
Victor Martinez  DH Detroit Tigers Strained hamstring; questionable for opening day
Stephen Vogt C Oakland Athletics January elbow surgery;  Probable for opening day
Matt Wieters C Baltimore Orioles Soreness in elbow; on track for opening day
Yasmani Grandal C Los Angeles Dodgers Forearm strain; likely to start season on DL
Greg Bird 1B New York Yankees Surgery for torn labrum, Out for 2016 season
Albert Pujols 1B Los Angeles Angels November foot surgery; Probable for opening day
Edwin Encarnacion 1B Toronto Blue Jays Oblique strain; possible for opening day
Devon Travis  2B Toronto Blue Jays November shoulder surgery; Expected to return in May/June
Howie Kendrick  2B Los Angeles Dodgers Left calf strain; likely to start season on DL with return in April
Corey Seager SS Los Angeles Dodgers Left knee sprain, MRI showed no structural damage; Questionable for opening day
Asdrubal Cabrera SS New York Mets Tendon strain in knee; shut down until late March
Jhonny Peralta SS St. Louis Cardinals Ligament tear in thumb; out 2-3 months
Jung Ho Kang 3B Pittsburgh Pirates September knee surgery; Return in April/May
Michael Brantley OF Cleveland Indians November shoulder surgery; Return likely in April
A.J. Pollock  OF Arizona Diamondbacks Elbow soreness; could start season on disabled list
Rymer Liriano  OF Milwaukee Brewers Hit in face by pitch March 20, multiple facial fractures requiring surgery
Andre Ethier OF Los Angeles Dodgers Fouled ball off shin, x-rays negative, possible for opening day
Jarrod Dyson OF Kansas City Royals Grade 2 oblique strain; return possible in late April
Aaron Altherr OF Philadelphia Phillies Underwent wrist surgery 3/9; out until at least July
Cameron Maybin OF Detroit Tigers Broken wrist; return possible in mid-April
Josh Hamilton OF Texas Rangers October knee surgery; Will begin season on DL, possible return in May
Jon Gray SP Colorado Rockies Abdominal strain; could throw off mound in 1-2 weeks
Lance McCullers SP Houston Astros Shoulder soreness; return possible in late April
Hyun-Jin Ryu SP Los Angeles Dodgers Shoulder surgery in May 2015; Possible return in May
Brett Anderson SP Los Angeles Dodgers Underwent back surgery in March; return possible mid-season
C.J. Wilson SP Los Angeles Angels Shoulder tendinitis; Shut down until at least first week of April
Jered Weaver SP Los Angeles Angels Degenerative changes in cervical spine; Pitched in ST game March 25
Zack Wheeler SP New York Mets Tommy John surgery in March 2015; Return likely in July
Matt Harvey SP New York Mets Unknown medical condition; will miss first start
Henderson Alvarez SP Oakland Athletics Shoulder surgery in July 2015; expected return in May/June
Kevin Gausman SP Baltimore Orioles Received cortisone injection for shoulder tendinitis March 20; could make first start of season in mid April
Yu Darvish SP Texas Rangers March 2015 Tommy John surgery; Return likely in May
Alex Cobb SP Tampa Bay Rays Tommy John surgery in May 2015; return likely in August
Eduardo Rodriguez SP Boston Red Sox Swelling in knee; could return in early to mid April
Homer Bailey SP Cincinnati Reds Tommy John surgery in May 2015; return possible in June
John Lamb SP Cincinnati Reds Underwent back surgery in December; return possible in mid-April
Michael Lorenzen SP Cincinnati Reds Shut down after MRI showed mild sprain of UCL; will be re-examined in 2-3 weeks
Anthony DeSclafani SP Cincinnati Reds Strained oblique; first start pushed back to April 10
Masahiro Tanaka SP New York Yankees Elbow surgery in October 2015; Possible for opening day
Sean Doolittle RP Oakland Athletics Left triceps strain; probable for opening day
Carter Capps RP Miami Marlins Diagnosed with torn UCL, underwent Tommy John surgery 3/8; out for season
Brad Boxberger RP Tampa Bay Rays Underwent surgery March 17; expected to miss 8 weeks
Carson Smith RP Boston Red Sox Experienced forearm tightness March 21; shut down with no timetable for return
Will Smith RP Milwaukee Brewers Torn lateral collateral ligament; consulting with doctors, will miss significant time

Injury Report: Offensive Players

Yasmani Grandal, C, Los Angeles Dodgers

 

When Grandal isn’t dealing with injuries, he’s a nice option at catcher. When he tries to play through them, we get last year’s second half. Needless to say it ain’t pretty. This time a forearm strain is likely to put the Dodger’s catcher on the DL to start the year. For now the team will wait for the inflammation to go down before moving forward. There’s a good chance Grandal could be back by mid-April, but for now there is no set timetable.

A.J. Pollock, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

A.J. Pollock’s status for opening day now appears to be in doubt. Word out of Arizona now is that he could start off with a short stint on the DL. It seems like every week we keep hearing he’s a week or two away. It hurts to do it but I’m moving Pollock down about a round on my draft board now due to the injury risk. There’s a good chance this blows over but for now I’ll take names like George Springer and Starling Marte over Pollock.

Injury Report: Pitchers

Will Smith, RP, Milwaukee Brewers

 

The Brewers entered Spring Training with an opening for a closer after Francisco Rodriguez left during the offseason. Smith impressed with a 12.93 K/9 and 2.70 ERA in 63 innings last year and looked to have the inside track on the job. In the weirdest injury so far this year, he tore the LCL in his knee while removing his cleats this week and will miss “significant” time. Whether he needs surgery or not, Smith is now an avoid in your drafts.

Jeremy Jeffress should have the best shot at the job thanks to the “cleat incident” and is worth a stash late if you need saves. Corey Knebel is a young flamethrower and could apply pressure as the season goes on, but Jeffress is the best bet for now.

Singles

  • Matt Wieters is finally giving us good news. He has caught in a game now and looks to be on track to play opening day.
  • Howie Kendrick strained a calf last week and is likely headed to the DL to start the year. He could be playing in games by mid-April if his recovery goes well.
  • Not that you want to start Rockies pitchers anyway, but Jon Gray strained an abdominal muscle and will be held from pitching off the mound for a couple weeks.
  • Lance McCullers has thrown a second bullpen session without issue and is moving positively towards a return in late April.
  • Kevin Gausman still hasn’t thrown after his cortisone injection. The Orioles seem to think he’s still headed towards starting his first game in mid-April, but this is something to continue to watch.
  • A strained oblique will push Anthony DeSclafani back in the Red’s rotation to start the year. The current hope is that he will be ready to start on April 10. Obliques can be tricky though so we’ll have wait and see if that start date holds.
  • Something’s up with Matt Harvey. The problem is we don’t know what! The Met’s ace went for some sort of doctor’s appointment Monday but the team declined to comment on specifics. They did say that it is not arm related, so we’ve got that at least. This is obviously something to watch. If you draft the Dark Knight keep in mind this could be anything from an upset stomach to who knows what… Update- It was revealed Tuesday morning that Harvey had blood clots in his bladder. This issue is considered minor and he’s now expected to be available to start again on opening day.

 

By this time next week we’ll be in the regular season! Check back for our in season injury reports on Tuesdays throughout the summer. In the meantime take a look at our fantasy baseball draft kit to help finalize your draft prep.

 

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