Howdy, Razzfolks!
Glad to be back in action this week. My stint on the IL was a short one. Much love and many thanks to EWB for taking the reins last time.
Let’s do it to it!
Adalberto Mondesi: We waited weeks and weeks to see our polarizing poster child return to action. He finally did, playing 7 games in which he accrued 9 H, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB, and a cuckoo amount of strikeouts (a cool 231 K pace so far!). Lo and behold, the oft-injured speedster was pulled from a game earlier this week with a dreaded hamstring issue. He hasn’t returned to action since then, but it seems for now that it’s a minor thing since his removal was just precautionary. Doesn’t sound like an IL stint will be needed yet. If you sense my pessimism then you should audition to be Hotel.com’s next Captain Obvious. We just get to wait and see I guess. Side note: I know it’s not called the DL anymore, and the dude isn’t even on it, but I thought A-DL-berto was a pretty good one lol.
Jack Flaherty: Flaherty isn’t a Statcast darling (very surprising amount of blue and zero dark red), but fantasy owners have been thrilled with his start: 8-1, 2.90 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 67 K in 62 IP. He suffered a pretty serious oblique injury that apparently was made worst by having to swing a bat (universal DH plzzz?!) and will be out for a good while. It’s unclear at this point, but I think mid-July is the absolute best-case scenario for a return.
Corey Seager: Baby Bro Seager is making good progress but is still about two or so weeks away from being able to play again. He’s traveling with the team and has been doing fielding drills and whatnot.
Trevor Story: Been a less-than-ideal-but-still-not-bad year for the consensus 1st rounder. You want more from a guy who’s only put up 5 HR, 23 RBI, and 8 SB at that draft price, but Story is the type of guy to go on a crazy bender the rest of the way and still end up returning 1st round value. He’s on the IL with elbow inflammation but reportedly had a clean MRI come back earlier this week. Shouldn’t be out too much longer.
Luke Voit: Neat, another oblique injury! Voit has been on the 10-day IL and figures to be on there longer than the minimum days would require. It’s a vague “out for a few weeks” type timeline for now. His 12 games so far have been nothing close to his 56-game 2020 breakout, so hopefully he can come back stronger when the time comes. So far he’s been more like Puke Voit, amirite?!
Kolten Wong: Let’s do one more oblique while we’re at it. Wong left Thursday’s game with one of those injuries, too! Couldn’t miss out on all the fun. Apparently, it’s in the same spot that hurt him a little while back and forced him to the IL. Don’t be surprised to see those cute lil red IL letters next to his name again on your roster soon.
George Springer: Springer is running and doing some fielding drills. Making progress. Could be nearing a rehab assignment here in the near future. I imagine they’ll take it pretty carefully with him given he’s had lingering issues pretty much his entire Blue Jays tenure to this point, but a gut check tells me we’ll likely see him within the next couple of weeks.
Ramon Laureano: This one hurts. My RazzSlam squad is doing very well (#15 overall at time of writing) and Laureano is a big reason why. He got owners hyped this offseason when it was reported he was talking to Elvis Andrus about how to steal more bases — dude’s done just that, stealing 8 bags so far, and he’s added 11 HR for good measure. A hip injury has him on the IL, and I’m hoping it doesn’t keep him from stealing more bags the rest of the way.
Trent Grisham: Grisham is having a great year, just not a healthy one. The slash line looks fantastic: .301/.383/.515 with 6 HR and 7 SB in just 36 games. That’s a 27/32 pace with a great BA and elite OBP. Total stud. Sure, the BABIP is high (.389), but I dig the double-digit BB% and power/speed combo. A heel injury has had him on the IL, but he looks to be nearing a return. Real soon like. Probably even activated by the time this publishes.
Kyle Lewis: Lewis is on the shelf for a long time after a meniscus tear in his knee. Like, maybe the rest of the season. Maybe not that long, but definitely long enough to where you can safely drop him unless your league has a bunch of IL slots. You’ve probably already got a bunch of IL slots filled up, though. Been a fun year, hasn’t it?
Kyle Schwarber: His status for this weekend remains up in the air. He left Wednesday’s game with a knee injury after a dive in the outfield. Schwarbs started the season cold AF, slashing .190/.269/.333 in the first 22 games. Since then, he’s gone .286/.381/.560 with 7 HR, 18 RBI, and a 155 wRC+.
Lorenzo Cain: Color me shook. Lorenzo “Needs A” Cain is back on the IL? Never saw it coming. Hamstring this time. It was his quad earlier in the year. He’s been very meh anyway. Drop him and don’t look back.
Mitch Garver: Garver took a foul tip straight into his family jewels and had to have surgery that same night. I, um, hope all the jewels are still there. But I dunno. Recovering well, apparently! As well as you can, at least. It’s been a tale of two seasons so far Coolwhip’s second-favorite player. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
Happy Memorial Eve!@Razzball Mitch Garver update:
April '21: .172/.213/.413?, 4.9% BB?, 44.3% K?
May '21: .291/.426/.600?, 19.1% BB?, 23.5% K?
2019: .273/.365/.630, 11.4% BB, 24.2% K2019: 109.7 maxEV, 15.5% brl, 8.6 PA/HR
2021: 111.8 maxEV, 15.7% brl, 6.2 PA/HR ?— Ohtani Stan Account (@CoolwhipRB) May 30, 2021
Joey Votto: The veteran former fantasy MVP began a rehab assignment this week and should be back with the Reds pretty ding dang soon. Did you know his Statcast is about as red as the team he plays for? That’s right; here are his notable percentile rankings: 93rd in average EV, 91st in max EV, 84th in HardHit%, 88th in xwOBA, 80th in xBA, 90th in xSLG, and 75th in Barrel%. Did you know he hit 8 HR in his last 28 games in 2020? He made some adjustments to hit for more power. They worked then and they’re still working in 2021. Don’t forget about him. If you need 1B help, he could be out there for you.
Cavan Biggio: Still being monitored and the Blue Jays are considering him DTD even though he’s technically still on the 10-day IL. No real estimate for a return.
Dylan Moore: Should return to the Mariners soon. It’s been a very disappointing season in some respects, but 5 HR and 8 SB in the 41 games he’s played would pace out almost to a 20/32 season (19.76/31.6 to be more exact). I’ll take that from a 2B in any format even with a crap average.
Josh Staumont: The sexy Royals closer (four words I thought I’d never say for $1000, Alex) has been on the mend due to a knee boo boo. Progressing well and is eligible to be reinstated tomorrow. It’s not clear if he will be, but doesn’t sound like he’ll miss much more time either way.
J.D. Davis: Had a pretty significant setback and will pause rehab for the time being. His hand is still hurting enough to keep him from doing much at all. We’re looking at mid-June as a best-case thing, but it could be even longer.
Brandon Belt: Will likely return sometime this weekend. The power he flashed last year is still there and he’s barreling a career-high 18.8% of the time, but his Z-Contact% has dropped from last year’s 83.3% to 70% so far this season. I’m willing to bet that creeps up back to his career norm of 82.1%. Like with Votto, don’t forget about this guy if you need 1B help. The Giants offense is actually pretty loaded when it’s clicking.
Mike Yastrzemski: Speaking of the Giants offense, they may get Belt back, but they’ll be without a key piece in Yaz. He’s struggled compared to last year, but I still think he’s got another level. For now, he’ll ride the 10-day IL with a thumb sprain.
Sixto Sanchez: I’m starting to get the feeling we won’t see Sixto this year, but that’s honestly just me being very pessimistic given the nature of injuries this year. But his shoulder flared up again, thusly causing the Marlins to pause his throwing regimen. They’ve said it’ll only be for a few days, though, so he could ramp back up pretty quick after that. Just depends how he feels, obviously. If you happen to have him sitting in an IL slot in a redraft league, I wouldn’t let him get too comfortable there were another injury to crop up in your lineup. But if you’ve got the space, let him fester I guess.
Elieser Hernandez: Mannnn this one just hurts. You gotta feel for the guy. He finally came off the 60-day IL on Thursday only to seriously injure his quad while running the bases cuz we don’t have a universal DH. I contained myself in the Flaherty blurb above, but goshdarnit! I’ve harped this tune before: pitchers should not be hitting. Not only is it boring to watch, but it’s also too much to ask of their bodies to have to throw that much, then swing a bat, then run bases. They’re doing so much extra unnecessary work. More than half the time they’re just going through the motions anyway so as not to expend too much energy in the first place. Who wants to watch that? Seriously. DH FOR LIFE! Anyway, I digress; Hernandez figures to be out for a long time. He couldn’t put hardly any weight on his leg afterward.
Zac Gallen: So far, so good on the Gallen front. He threw a pen sesh on Tuesday and then another on Friday. Was able to throw all his pitches. I still can’t imagine a UCL sprain just plain going away and not causing a bigger issue sooner or later, but maybe 2021 has a miracle for us after all. Gallen is still weeks away from a potential return, but at least things are going well for now.
Luis Severino: If all goes according to plan, Severino will begin a lengthy rehab assignment tomorrow. The dude was a boss back in 2017 and 2018, combining for a 33-14 record, 3.18 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 3.07 xFIP, 11.0 WAR, and 450 K in 384.2 IP. He missed basically all of 2019 than all of 2020, but a second-half 2021 resurgence could lead a fantasy team to The Promised Land. Might be time to think about scooping and stashing if he’s available.
Kenta Maeda: I only ended up with one share, but I expected Maeda to be the ace that saved GMs like me who fade the early pitchers. Backfire City! Oh well, at least I don’t own any Blake Snell! And I was right about Lance Lynn! Maeda could throw in the bullpen this weekend, but he’s probably a week or two away from making a return. Maybe he gets it right this time? Or maybe he keeps on sucking it up. Time will tell!
Lance McCullers Jr.: Is this guy the Byron Buxton of pitchers? Never had a full season and is always very good when he plays. Sporting a 2.96 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a very healthy 31.5 CSW% this year. His 5.92 H/9 is ace-level stuff, but it’s hindered by a poopy 4.53 BB/9. The strikeouts are always gonna be there with this guy, and he doesn’t allow many HR at all (career 0.72 HR/9). Imagine a full season of this fella, especially if he could get the walks down…oh yeah, the injury. He’s been out with a shoulder injury but reportedly felt great after throwing this week. Could start a rehab stint pretty soon. Dusty Baker hopes he’ll be back by mid-June.
Tony Gonsolin: Remember him? He’s scheduled to make his season debut Tuesday against the Pirates. Don’t expect a lot of innings, but I would expect healthy ratios if you’re in the market for those.
Find me on Twitter: @jkj0787. DMs are always open for questions, comments, concerns, complaints, etc. Odds are good I’m drinking black coffee, dark beer, or some form of bourbon at any given time.
