Yes, yes….I know. You just want a moment to breathe here. You busted your ass with the spring prep work, you had your draft, you set your lineups and since Day 1 of the 2017 MLB regular season, it’s been one thing after another. Injuries continue to pile up, bullpens are already in flux and slow starts are making you second guess a number of decisions you thought were rock solid. The frustration level is on an upward trajectory and you just want a day where you can just set it and forget it. Welcome to the fantasy baseball grind. It is not for the weak or for the lazy. You want easy? Go back to fantasy football. This is the game where we separate the men from the boys.

So take that moment you need right now. Take that deep breath. Give yourself that pep talk and like a long-distance runner (what you standing there for?), you push on through the wall of angst and get your head right. We got work to do.

Injury Woes

Without lecturing you on the perils of taking a catcher early in your drafts, I’ll simply say that the Giants placing Buster Posey on the 7-day concussion DL was the right move. It’s way too early in the season to take chances with your franchise player and the last thing you want is for Posey to come back too soon and take a foul-tip off the mask, only to be sent off to concussion protocol again. The Giants said the DL stint was precautionary, so hopefully they are right and this is not a long-term thing. Nick Hundley makes for a viable pick-up as a temporary replacement.

The Adrian Beltre news is a little disturbing as it was revealed yesterday that he felt something in his calf Saturday and that was why he wasn’t activated from the DL on Sunday. The club said they were expected to activate him Tuesday, but when that didn’t happen either, the questions started to pour in. He was sent for an MRI which revealed a Grade-1 strain, so now there is no timetable at all for his return. Considering the nature of calf injuries and how slow they can be to heal, this is a huge bummer for Beltre’s owners. Of course, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and that means Joey Gallo gets to stay in the bigs and continue manning the hot corner. The trickle down effect spills into left field as the club doesn’t need to decide whether to demote Gallo or try him in left field which means Delinio DeShields, Jr. gets to stay right where he is. Love that for potential stolen bases, though I’m a little sad for Jurickson Profar as this guy just can’t ever seem to catch a break.

It looks like Matt Carpenter’s back is going to be an issue throughout the season. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but after issues during the spring, we discussed the potential of him needing extra rest to avoid chronic flare-ups. Well, here we are on April 12 and he’s already taking a seat. Consider him day-to-day for now and see how long he’s rested. Might be just the one game. His value to too strong to start freaking out right now, but just keep a watchful eye.

Easy come, easy go as Stephen Drew looked to be the primary beneficiary of Trea Turner’s DL stint. Instead, it afforded him two starts and a hamstring strain. He’s being called day-to-day for the moment so look for Wilmer Difo to get a golden opportunity here. If Drew doesn’t bounce back in a day or two the club could consider him for the 10-day DL.

Call it a blessing in disguise, but Clay Buchholz is headed for an MRI on his right forearm. You really didn’t want him on your fantasy team to begin with, so if you do, you can use this as a sign telling you to drop him, regardless of the test results. Seriously. Drop him now.

As for Matt Harvey, they’re calling it a hamstring cramp and he believes he will have no problem making his next start. Double check a little closer to the date, but he should be fine.

Greg Bird, on the other hand, continues to remain out with his ankle injury. The club has been hesitant to put him on the DL, but he’s out of the lineup against Wednesday. The team may change their mind if he’s not able to suit up Thursday, but no word has been given. He is also recovering from the flu, so that’s also in play. Day-to-day with hope is all you get here.

Closer Concerns

I feel like we should have some sort of long-running soap opera drama that revolves around the bullpens and the closer nightmares people are experiencing. As always, some of the concerns are warranted, but we’re still early enough in the year, where some guys need a little extra patience from you. Yes, it can be frustrating but sometimes you still have to exhibit restraint when it comes to roster turnover.

Let’s start with Seung-Hwan Oh as there was a question in the #FANation Forums asking whether or not to pick up Trevor Rosenthal. Simply put, I don’t see manager Mike Matheny yanking Oh from the job based on these first three outings. The blown save to open the season was a bummer, for sure, but it happens to the best of them. While yes, you would like to see him rebound from that immediately, the Cardinals have been atrocious to start and Oh hasn’t been afforded a single save opportunity since Opening Day. He went a full week between appearances and has now thrown two meaningless innings in a pair of blowouts. Matheny isn’t going to give him the hook just yet and while you might think you’re being proactive by picking up Rosenthal, you could be mistakenly dropping someone for a useless waiver claim. Be careful.

Now Sam Dyson, well, that’s a different story. He’s allowed 11 earned runs over just three innings (four appearances) and that scoreless frame he tossed against Oakland is starting to look like the anomaly. With two blown saves already, it looks like Dyson could be in trouble. Manager Jeff Banister didn’t commit to Dyson as his guy in the latest post-game presser, but he did say that they can’t go on losing games like this. Most people are looking at Matt Bush, but there’s now recent speculation that he injured himself in that 29-pitch outing he had the other day. While he may not say anything publicly, should the Rangers be sitting with a lead in the ninth tonight, look for Banister to potentially turn to Jeremy Jeffress. He hasn’t been all that great to open the season either, but he could be the lesser of two (or three) evils for now.

Staying Hot

Odubel Herrera, Brandon Crawford and Jake Lamb have all extended their hitting streaks to eight games while Dustin Pedroia and Andrelton Simmons have both hit safely in seven-straight. There are a ton of guys with six-game streaks alive as well, so if you’re looking at adjusting your lineups and deciding between different players, remember that scene from The Natural when they bring that sports psychiatrist in. “Losing is a disease as contagious as the Bubonic Plague.” Well, guess what? Hot-hitting is just as contagious in a clubhouse, so when you have one or two who are really hot, another few usually follow suit. Case in point, the Nationals. It’s gone from Bryce Harper to Ryan Zimmerman to Adam Eaton to Stephen Drew to Daniel Murphy. The team is crushing is right now with a .388 wOBA and a wRC+ of 135, so you should have any and all of them active on a daily basis. Also look to your Angels, Diamondbacks, Reds, Dodgers and Yankees.

Still Cold

Man, poor Byron Buxton just can’t get out of his head. He was finally dropped in the order, but has yet to find his groove as the strikeout s continue to pile up. Twins manager Paul Molitor is giving him the day off today with the hopes of helping him clear his head. Only time will tell, but again, I’m just not giving up on this kid. There’s a reason he was listed as the No. 1 prospect for over the last few years. The skill set is there. It’s raw, but it’s there. Molitor is going to have to endow some words of wisdom here and hopefully get the future star on-track, so for now…just throw him on the bench. Dropping him will come back to haunt you.

As for losing being a disease, truer words have never been spoken in the Blue Jays clubhouse. Granted, Josh Donaldson’s calf issues aren’t helping things any, but this club simply can’t get on-track yet. They’ve posted a league-worst .258 wOBA with a 65 wRC+ and it looks like you may have to start benching the peripheral players. I can’t justify benching Jose Bautista or even Troy Tulowitzki, but anyone else failing to produce right now is nothing more than a fringe player for a starting roster. I’m not saying drop them. Just keep them benched until this club starts to heat up.

We’re seeing a number of solid teams struggling, from the Mariners to the Orioles to the Pirates and the Cardinals. Obviously we’ll look for the numbers to balance by the end of the month, but for leagues with daily roster moves, you’re going to have to play some of the match-ups with your bench guys and starters.

Stolen Base Watch

Speed is at a premium, huh? I don’t know about you, but I see a lot of movement on the bases right now. Granted, it’s still the same teams who are showing the aggressiveness – Arizona, Cincinnati, Seattle, the Yankees – but I like see some of those random names like Brandon Phillips, Marcus Semien and Chris Owings near the top. I also like see some of the speculative hopefuls for a stolen base burst such as Jose Peraza and Adam Eaton making the effort. Keep digging around if you’re concerned with not having a burner on your roster, but so far, this category isn’t looking as bad as many predicted. The Blue Jays are still at the bottom with just one attempt (slumping teams won’t take chances giving away outs so it’s understandable), but even the Orioles, who made just 32 attempts in all of 2016, have three attempts on the season already.

First pitch of the day is at 1:05pm ET, so make sure you check all of your lineups this morning!