2011 Fantasy Baseball Injury Report: Stephen Drew, J.J. Putz & More

Posted by Howard Bender on 07/22/2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: fantasy baseball, injuries, injury report, carlos gomez, stephen drew, chipper jones, j.j. putz, kyle lohse, dan uggla, jason bay, grady sizemore, david wright, brad lidge, melky cabrera, jordan schafer, aubrey huff, ryan doumit, scott baker

It’s only been a few days since the last Injury Report and already, there’s a full list of players joining the ranks of MLB’s walking wounded.  That doesn’t bode well for fantasy owners who are going to have to spend a significant amount of time sifting through the free agents on the waiver wire, looking for quality replacement candidates.  Obviously, some players are lost for longer periods of time, but even the most minor of injuries needs to have your attention as you never know when something minor can grow to something major.  Bumps, bruises, breaks, sprains, and setbacks, we’ve got ‘em all here.  Let’s get to it…

Banged Up

The Cardinals have sent starting pitcher Kyle Lohse back to St. Louis to have a finger on his pitching hand examined and the results probably won’t come in until sometime on Friday.  It’s very likely that the finger has been the root of his recent downturn as Lohse went from viable mixed league option to suspect start.  Over his last eight outings, he is sporting a 5.70 ERA and opposing hitters are batting .304 against him.  Regardless of the examination results, it is recommended that Lohse be on your bench even if he makes his Sunday start against the Pirates.  If he doesn’t, then it looks like Lance Lynn will make a spot start from out of the bullpen.  He is not recommended either.

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Surprising outfielder, Melky Cabrera left Wednesday’s game with an apparent stomach virus.  It’s probably nothing serious, but there’s a chance he could miss a game or two as these viruses always lead to some sort of dehydration.  Keep an eye on him throughout the weekend to make sure he is back in the lineup.

Jordan Schafer owners could be without their little speedster for a game or two after he was pulled from Thursday’s lineup amidst complaints that his middle finger was hurt and affecting his swing.  While he hasn’t been lighting it up offensively, he has been starting regularly in the Braves outfield and has provided his owners with some cheap stolen bases.  He’s being considered day to day right now, but check back for further details.

It just goes from bad to worse for Dan Uggla owners as he is out of Thursday’s lineup after injuring his calf during Wednesday night’s game.  After putting up first half numbers that increase the taste of bile in fantasy owners’ mouths, Uggla had started to come around right before the Break and then started even stronger when games resumed.  He was in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak here and enjoyed a multi-HR game the other night.  Now, his owners will have to wait and see just how serious this injury might be and if additional time will be lost.  Brooks Conrad will get the starts in his place.

The disappointment continues for Jason Bay owners as the underachieving outfielder is now dealing with a hamstring issue that has him out of the lineup on Thursday.  He’s hitting .108 over his last 11 games, so it is possible that the injury is minor and the team is just getting him some additional rest, hoping to get him back on track.

Giants 1B Aubrey Huff has now missed the last two games with a back issue and could miss a few more this weekend.  Manager Bruce Bochy talked about giving Huff, who is batting .174 here in July, some additional rest, and with the recent call-up of Brandon Belt, it seems like the optimal time.  Barring any setbacks, Huff should be a safe play next week.

Some other day to day players with minor bumps and bruises to monitor include:  Curtis Granderson, Ben Zobrist, Adam Dunn, Pablo Sandoval and Michael Brantley.  Nothing serious, but they could miss a game here or there.

Out of Commission

While he hasn’t officially been placed on the DL just yet, it is a certainty that Carlos Gomez will be out for an extended period of time after fracturing his collarbone on Wednesday making a diving catch.  He’s headed back to Milwaukee to see if it will require surgery and then we’ll have a better timetable to his possible return.  Gomez had already lost his starting job to Nyjer Morgan, but deep leaguers trying to use him for a few steals here and there will have to look elsewhere.  It’s hard to imagine that he’ll have any significant value even if he does make it back before season’s end.

The Arizona Diamondbacks took a serious hit on Tuesday when shortstop Stephen Drew fractured his ankle sliding into home plate during Wednesday’s game.  He was helped off the field, and afterwards, manger Kirk Gibson said that Drew would be out for the remainder of the season.  It’s possible the Diamondbacks start shopping around the league for another shortstop, but for now, the in-house replacement is Willie Bloomquist.  If Bloomquist is available on your waiver wire, he could be a nice pick-up if he starts stealing bases like he did back in April.

The nightmare continues for Grady Sizemore who apparently just had abdominal surgery and is on the shelf for at least 4-6 weeks now.  Sizemore had been out with a knee contusion, one that he unfortunately equated to his problems that required microfracture surgery, and now has this latest catastrophe added to it.  While there’s still an outside chance that he could be back for the final month of the season and might be worth a stash in deeper leagues, relying on him to return and be productive might not be in your team’s best interest.  

On the Mend

Chipper Jones has postponed his rehab stint a few days due to additional soreness in his knee.  There hasn’t been a set timeframe put on when he will start back up, so his owners will have to continue with whatever patchwork third baseman they’ve been using thus far.

J.J. Putz, on the DL with an elbow issue, is scheduled to make his first rehab appearance Friday for Triple-A Reno and possibly another one on Saturday depending on how he feels.  It’s now just a matter of when he can pitch on back to back days, so if all goes well this weekend, he could be back in the Diamondbacks’ bullpen as early as Tuesday.  There’s no word as to whether or not he will get back his closer’s job immediately as David Hernandez has racked up seven saves in 7.1 scoreless innings in July.  More than likely though, Hernandez finds his way back to set-up duty.

Players beginning their rehab stints this weekend and could be back next week include:  Ryan Doumit, Ross Ohlendorf, Kevin Slowey, and Jonathan Sanchez

Players who could be back in the lineup this weekend include:  David Wright, Scott Baker, Jason Kubel, and Brad Lidge   

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Howard Bender is the founder of The Fantasy Baseball Buzz and SF Giants Report.  For questions, thoughts and comments, you can email Howard at rotobuzzguy@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter - @rotobuzzguy and @SFGiantsReport.