We still have two full days of baseball left this week and I’m already tapping out. I just need a breather. Starling Marte gets suspended for 80 games for a PEDs violation, players are heading to the disabled list in droves and now Madison Bumgarner is out for 6-to-8 weeks after a dirt bike accident. A dirt bike accident? This ranks right up there with Jeff Kent falling off his truck, Chris Coghlan tearing his meniscus trying to pie a teammate and Carlos Quentin breaking his wrist punching his bat. Yeah, pretty stupid stuff.

As a fantasy owner, I’m left sitting here, mouth agape, wondering what the hell is going on. Now not everyone had both Marte and Bumgarner rostered, but for those of you who did, you have my deepest sympathies. I have one team where both were rostered and even just a cursory glance at the waiver wire makes me nauseous. I had a nice plan for sensibly spending some of my FAAB budget to replace Marte. I had a couple of potential stolen base contributors lined up as well as a pair of modest power hitters for contingency purposes. The bids were appropriate and I wasn’t blowing my wad because of the immediate panic losing your second-round pick usually brings. But now I have to dig deeper into my pockets and try to replace Bumgarner? Well that’s not good.

Actually, it’s not the worst thing in the world. Maybe it’s from years of waiting on pitching and understanding the insane depth of starting pitching in leagues of 12 teams or fewer. No, you’re not going to find a pitcher on your waiver wire who will replace Bumgarner, but you can certainly stream a few guys in here and there to make it work. It’ll take some extra work each week, but if you are good about doing the research and making sure you don’t take too many risks with players, you can certainly keep yourself competitive while you wait for Bumgarner to return. It’s a long road and while you may not be wearing the best shoes to walk it, it is still possible.

Just a few names who could prove to be decent starts with the right match-up are Amir Garrett, Hector Santiago, Antonio Senzatela, Chad Kuhl and Adam Conley. Even Zach Davies has the potential to turn his poor April around. Again, not world-beaters by any stretch of the imagination, but each has proven to be effective under the right circumstances. And if that isn’t a route you’d like to take, you can certainly try out some of the effectors who are available to you. Archie Bradley and Chris Devenski could see six or seven innings in a given week. Kyle Barraclough and Mike Dunn could help and just wait for Joaquin Benoit’s owner to drop him this weekend. Using these middle relievers can help keep your ratios stable, maybe kick in a few strikeouts and all are definitely less risky than some of the garbage fourth and fifth starters some teams are shuttling out to the mound every five days.

Again, it’s not the easiest path to take en route to winning your fantasy championship, but others have been dealt worse cards before and still come out on top. You don’t have to go crazy on the waiver wire and you don’t have to blow your FAAB budget here to fix it. Just do your homework and be smart with your pick-ups.

We covered the day’s news earlier in the Morning Buzz, so there’s no reason to repeat myself. Maybe I’ll double-back after tonight’s games are over if there’s something real important to touch on.