Happy Friday FANation as we continue to power through the fantasy baseball season. Every team is dealing with injuries, both fantasy baseball injuries and MLB injuries. Unfortunately, they never stop, but every fantasy baseball player has to deal with them. We always have you covered with the fantasy baseball waiver report that you can catch here to help deal with the holes in your roster. There is a lot of pitching news in this MLB injury report along with some rehabbing hitters and a nasty injury we all have our fingers crossed with from Thursday night. Let’s dive right in and get to the good and bad news. 

 

 

 

 

Fantasy Baseball MLB Injury Report July 8

 


By now we have all seen the video of him trashing the clubhouse in his last minor league assignment, but the news on Chris Sale appears to be very good. Manager Alex Cora said he will be pitching “somewhere” on Tuesday, but he also stated that there was a good chance he would be pitching for the big-league club. That’s basically enough for me to figure that he will be pitching in the Majors on Tuesday and you should start figuring how you are going to activate him off of your injured list during the weekend. 

 

 


Kyle Hendricks left his start on Tuesday with a right shoulder injury and hit the injured list on Wednesday. The news that came out on Thursday was pretty decent, however. The MRI came back clean with no structural damage, and Hendricks will avoid surgery. But, there was no timetable put on his return and the pitching coach said that they would have a better idea of a timetable for his return when the Cubs came back to Wrigley. While no surgery is good, this doesn’t seem like Hendricks return is anywhere in the near future and he will most definitely be out past the All-Star Break. 

 

 


The only thing that can stop this guy is injury in 2022. And while Aaron Judge didn’t play Thursday against the rival Red Sox due to “lower body soreness”, this doesn’t appear to be anything major. In fact, Aaron Boone said he could have pinch hit if needed. I would expect Judge to play on Friday with worst case scenario playing on Saturday as the Yankees try to extend their division lead. 

 

 


Kevin Gausman hasn’t pitched since July 2nd after leaving that start early with an ankle injury. The good news is that an MRI confirmed that he did not fracture that ankle, but instead has a bone bruise. He is slated to throw a bullpen session on Friday, after which time you would think the Blue Jays would give us some kind of idea of how much time he might miss. Hold your breath and check the news this weekend and this situation will almost surely be updated in the Monday injury report. 

 


It is not the most exciting news, but the Marlins young hurler Jesús Luzardo is going to throw a bullpen session on Friday as he attempts to come back from a forearm strain. He will throw 35 pitches in the outing, and it will be the first big step in his road back. I would assume that Luzardo will throw another two or three bullpen sessions before going out on a rehab assignment, so we are still likely three or four weeks before seeing him back on the mound in a Marlins uniform. 

 


Looks like the Reds catcher has a little Wolverine in him. Tyler Stephenson broke his thumb on June 9th and is just a couple of days away from returning. He is supposed to finish up his rehab assignment on Friday and then join the Reds shortly after this weekend on Saturday or Sunday. He will provide a big boost to fantasy teams who have been missing his bat for a month so be prepared to get him back in your lineups as soon as he returns. 

 

 


Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been out more than a week already, but he has been doing some drills and taking ground balls back in Florida as he is returning from a lower back strain. It is unclear if the team will send him on a rehab assignment since his absence hasn’t been that long, but it appears that he is getting closer to returning. I would expect to see him back on the field for the Marlins before the All-Star Break. 

 

 

The much-anticipated return for one of the more unheralded players in baseball in Ty France happened on Thursday as he was activated from the injured list after missing about two weeks with an elbow injury suffered on June 23rd. France had a hit in three at-bats in the game, and with his .316 average and 10 home runs through 70 games you need to get him back in your lineups today!

 

 


This was a scary one as Jurickson Profar collided with shortstop C.J. Abrams as they were both chasing a fly ball. Profar appears to take Abrams knee right in the face and both went down hard. Profar attempted to walk off the field, appeared to be in pain, and then collapsed right where the infield dirt started. He was put in a neck brace, and then carted from the field where thankfully he was able to fist pump to the crowd on the way out. There is currently no news of how long he might be out, but a trip to the injured list seems like an absolute certainty. Let’s hope he is all right. 

 

 

 

 


The Cubs are getting two starters back this weekend as both Marcus Stroman and Drew Smyly are set to return from the injured list. Stroman is the more talented pitcher with higher strikeout capabilities, but he has been pitching dreadfully so far this year. Smyly has never really lived up to expectations in his career but has a 3.80 ERA this season and hasn’t been terrible. Neither appear to be good options facing the Dodgers this time around, but if you had stashed either, I would get ready to crank them up the next time around. 

 

 


After a fairly strong start to the year, Michael Lorenzen has watched the wheels come off his last few starts, and he is now being placed on the 15-day injured list. The Angels are calling the injury a right shoulder strain. He is awaiting the results of an MRI, and there is no timetable for his return. The feeling around the team is that this could be a longer-term injury, but I would definitely not expect him back in the two weeks. When the results of the test are known, they will be updated here as well. 

 

 

I’m not sure how much fantasy relevance he has anymore, but Steven Matz did give up two runs in 3.1 innings Thursday for Triple-A Memphis. He did strikeout four and throw 59 pitches, both of which are positives, but you would imagine the team would send him out for the minor league club one more time before bringing him back. Matz has an ERA over 6.00 even if he has great strikeout potential, so tread carefully if you are thinking about trusting him. 

 

 

 


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