A slow injury news week, which is good news for fantasy owners. Yasiel Puig highlights the guys who are back in the lineup, alongside Masahiro Tanaka. A couple of Nationals pitchers are on the right track, while there are some superstar day-today guys highlighted down below
Catcher
Travis D’Arnaud is a week away from returning to the Mets. He will go through his rehab assignments this week, and be back mid next week. It has been a slow process, but the Mets have been careful with their stud catcher. If is not owned in your fantasy league, scoop him up. Devin Mesoraco has decided to not have surgery, instead he will play left field when he returns. Reds manager Bryan Price said that Mesoraco should need 3-4 rehab games before being activated. Victor Martinez has some good news for his owners, he will likely rejoin the Tigers next Tuesday. He will continue to ramp up baseball activities.
First Base
Matt Adams has the only lengthy injury in this position, he will be out until September, and that is even a question mark. Justin Morneau is next, he is dealing with a cervical sprain and concussion symptoms. He has yet to resume baseball activities, and it is just a waiting game, according to Walt Weiss. Edwin Encarnacion is day-to-day with a sore left shoulder, and he is out of the lineup Monday. Keep an eye on him, he took a cortisone shot and is expected to be fine.
Second Base
The Blue Jays’ second baseman has been out for sometime, and is still without a clear timetable. He is still sitting due to his last setback, and he will need a few rehab starts once he is up for it. End of June is a possibility right now, but still everything is up in the air right now. Daniel Murphy hit the DL, and the Mets season continues to be plagued by injuries. Murphy has a strained left quad, and has landed on the 15 day DL. We have seen this strains a few times this season, and it usually takes a little longer to heal. He will be re-evaluated after his time is up. If you need some help Joe Panik is a solid second baseman on the wire right now.
Third Base
Adrian Beltre was a victim of last week’s injury bug, and will be out at least two more weeks with a sprained thumb. His injury created an opportunity for prospect Joey Gallo, who homered in his first two games. Not bad rook. David Wright has been here almost the entire season. He has no timetable, but was quoted saying “he will be back sooner, rather than later.” I don’t know about that, he can’t stand or walk without pain right now. It remains a wait and see process for the Mets and Wright. Evan Longoria has been day-to-day this past weekend, with a sore wrist. He did pinch-run on Sunday, and expects to be back this week.
Shortstop
Jed Lowrie is out till post all-star break if you are keeping tabs on him. He underwent thumb surgery in early May. Nothing has changed here, and there are no new injuries to report in this section.
Outfield
Yasiel Puig is back!! Jacoby Ellsbury also brings some good news, he began baseball activities. The bad news is he is still 3-4 weeks away from rejoining the team. There is a shot he rejoins sooner. Corey Dickerson is also gaining some steam for a return, he is going to Arizona to play in some extended spring training games. This is just a test before they send him on rehab starts, this is an injury that could be with him on and off for the season. Josh Hamilton returned and now hits the DL with a strained hamstring. Hamstring injuries have been tricky, as we saw with Puig. He will be out for a minimum of four weeks. Marlon Byrd has a fractured wrist, and it is in an area where he has broken it before. He will be out for an extended amount of time, and Mesoraco will see some time in the outfield when he returns. Another wrist injury, Jayson Werth is going to be out until beginning of August. Wil Myers is a week away, he is going to continue rehabbing this week. He went 2-5 in his first rehab game, with a run. Hunter Pence is dealing with some wrist tendinitis, it doesn’t expect to be serious, and he was available off the bench. Finally a none wrist injury, Jorge Soler is dealing with a sprained ankle, and he expects to be back June 17th, when he is eligible to come off.
Pitcher
The pitchers section is starting to dwindle, well kinda. There are some rehab starts to discuss this week. Justin Verlander tossed 5.2 innings, and struck out nine, while allowing just one earned run. He is finally due back next week. Jose Fernandez tossed some innings this week, but not as smooth as he is usually used to. He allowed five earned over three innings. He had no setback, so that is what we need to take away from this. He is still not expected to be 100% until around the all star break. Patrick Corbin got his velocity back up, and was going through a rehab start today. He is due back sometime in late June, or early July. He is a guy I am stashing on my fantasy teams for the meantime. Jake Peavy and Matt Cain are both going through their rehab starts, and Peavy will be due back in about a week, while Cain will follow 7-10 days after. Hisashi Iwakuma threw a 45 pitch bullpen session, and is still not going to be due back until July. We will be keeping an eye on his progress, as he has already had one setback. Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg are both due back sometime in the next two weeks, Fister went through a rehab start, and struck out six. Strasburg pitched a painless bullpen session, and worked in all his pitches. He was just expected to miss the 15 days.
