Injuries continue to dominate the news, but today it is far from all bad. We have multiple pieces of good news concerning injuries tonight as well as some bad as one of the top pitchers in baseball suffers a tough injury. There is also news of the AL Rookie of the Year and what his role will be this season, along with news and notes from today’s games from Arizona and Florida on some players that you surely have questions about heading into your drafts. As always you can email me at ryan@fantasyalarm.com for all of your predraft questions along with advice throughout the year.
Zack Greinke suffered a hairline fracture of a rib playing basketball and it doesn’t appear that he will be ready to start the season. The preliminary timeline is for him to miss four to six weeks, which could stretch out another week or two as he prepares for the season. That being said I don’t see this being a huge injury in which you should really downgrade Greinke in your rankings. Say he misses six weeks, with three weeks left before the season starts, that means he might miss three or four starts. In a normal season a starting pitcher gets 30-35 starts. If he misses three or four is that worth downgrading him down your rankings? Personally I don’t think so and feel you should still be taking Greinke in the first 14-17 pitchers.
Twins’ first baseman Justin Morneau finally got back on the field today and he made the most of his opportunity. Morneau didn’t play the whole game, but he did get two at bats, and in the second one he hit a bases clearing double. It is great to see him on the field with three weeks before the season starts, but I am still concerned about Morneau. He has had two concussions in his career, and I am worried that he is one collision at home plate or with a teammate away from missing a month again or potentially more. Don’t forget his concussion last season was suffered in the beginning of July, and today was his first game back. I still love Morneau, but am very concerned about him this season.
The Rangers are going to have Neftali Feliz finish out the next game he pitches by throwing in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings, and right now all signs are pointing to him being the Texas closer again in 2011. The team has not made it official yet, but it is just a matter of time. Other starters such as Matt Harrison, Tommy Hunter, and Derek Holland are all looking like they are ready for a rotation spot, as well as the Rangers hoping for the return of Brandon Wood. This all makes it easier for them to put Feliz back in the bullpen and you should draft him accordingly. He will again be one of the best closers in baseball and should be drafted as such.
Carlos Beltran will miss the next week or so of spring with tendonitis in his knee. The good news is that it is not his surgically repaired knee, but the bad news is that now both of his knees are tender. The team is trying to downplay the situation, but you can’t help but be concerned with the fact that this guy has missed most of the last two seasons and he doesn’t even make it to the regular season without a setback. I am not going to touch Beltran in drafts this year as he is so injury prone, and even if he is able to stay healthy you can best believe that he will be taking days off all season long in an attempt to keep him on the field. That kind of player isn’t worth it to me.
Orioles’ first baseman Derrek Lee is going to have an MRI on his wrist, as he is experiencing some lingering soreness that is not going away. Lee had offseason surgery on his thumb so this is slightly different, but there is still concern about Lee who has been dealing with injuries more and more as he gets older. I think Lee can have a fine season for Baltimore if he is ready for Opening Day and right now it still seems like he will be just that. Unless the news on the MRI is bad, I would continue to draft Lee as a corner infielder or utility player, but he is no longer a good starting first baseman in fantasy baseball.
Brian Roberts is dealing with back spasms, and the injury concerns continue to mount with Roberts. He missed a lot of last season with back and neck issues and the fact that he is having more issues is a concern. He is 33 years old, but likely has the body of a 45 year old with all of the wear and tear he has suffered in his career. Right now with the plethora of good second baseman out there I am staying totally away from Roberts. There are just too many issues with him and the season hasn’t even started yet.
Josh Beckett took the mound in a game for the first time since his concussion and was pretty good. He allowed one earned run over 3.2 innings and struck out four while only walking one. I don’t see this concussion as being an issue that affects Beckett during the season and you can feel free to draft him as if that baseball never cracked him in the dome. Whether he can rebound from last season’s disaster is a different discussion, but the injury concern should be behind him.
Arizona’s Daniel Hudson won his first spring game as he allowed just one earned run over three innings and struck out four against the Indians. He now has a 2.57 ERA in the spring, as he attempts to continue his great rookie season. This was against the Indians and early in spring training, but Hudson looks like he will be a great fourth starter on your fantasy team, but don’t stretch too far for him following his 2010 breakout.
Apparently Alcides Escobar’s infected bug bite isn’t that big of a deal as he returned to the field on Tuesday, went 2-2 and even stole a base. Even though he had a very disappointing rookie season, I really like Escobar in Kansas City and as a late round option at shortstop if you don’t get one of the better guys at the position. He is sure to run more with the Royals and he has to improve on his stats. Don’t let this slight blip on the radar prevent you from taking a chance on him.
More good news for the Red Sox on injured players is Jacoby Ellsbury was 3-4 on Tuesday and not only drove in his first spring run, but also stole a base. Ellsbury had a nightmare 2010 after an outfield collision with Mike Cameron, but he appears to be fully healthy and should be able to return to his pre-injury form and should be a great source of steals for your fantasy team.
Andy LaRoche continues to tear up Spring Training as he had two more hits, including his third homer already and drove in his fifth run in March. LaRoche was always a high ranking prospect for the Dodgers, but he has bounced around and has been a total flop to this point in his career. Andy actually projected to be much better than his older brother Adam, but so far he has been unable to even hold a starting job. I am still not even thinking about drafting the younger LaRoche at this point because of his struggles so far in his career and there also doesn’t appear to be a place for him to play in Oakland. However, I am going to continue to monitor him this spring as he does have incredible talent and has potential to be a good player.
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