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Mike Couillard

Ambulance Chasers: Angels Not In The Outfield

August 26, 2023 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 1 Comment

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Howdy there, Razzball fam!

I know that I’m a familiar face in an unfamiliar spot. But I’m honored to fill in for Keelin here this week. Honestly, I’m not sure how she tracks all of these injuries every week – the volume is astounding.

And she left me with a doozy of a week to cover. Let’s just cut to the chase and all gawk at the gravesite of the 2023 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim once again.

My phone held news worse than the upcoming 100-degree day in Chicago on Thursday morning as the first alert there from early in the day, informing me that Shohei Ohtani’s right UCL was not well once again. Jeff Fletcher was the man who ruined everyone’s day:

And not only that! Upon hearing the news of Ohtani’s injury, Mike Trout felt the pain lingering in his wrist post-hamate surgery and declared an emphatic, “Nah, dawg,” marching himself right back to the IL.

Yeesh, what a way to culminate the most fruitless stretch one could imagine for a team having the two best players of this generation. I’m not even sure Disney would want to sink the franchise to an emotional low point this subterranean if they remade Angels in the Outfield. Although I would totally watch it if they brought back Adrien Brody in a fat suit to play Phil Nevin. All of Brody’s screen time would involve him clad in foam padding sobbing to sleep in his hotel room every night.

Notable Injuries August 19-25

Oneil Cruz (SS, PIT)

Cruz was officially shut down in his return from a broken ankle as there was still lingering soreness in his leg.

The freak injury looks like it will end up costing the 24-year-old the whole year, which is unfortunate because even if he didn’t pull an Elly-like breakout, the season would have been huge for his development to simply see major league pitching day in, day out.

At this point, if you’ve been piloting your team without Cruz since mid-April, you likely have some useful replacements to keep around. Liover Peguero should continue to get the majority of Pirates shortstop appearances and has slashed .250/.305/.443 with five homers and four steals over 97 plate appearances this year.

However, if you were counting on some eye-popping production from Cruz down the stretch, you might want to consider stashing Jordan Lawlar (SS, ARI) or Ronny Mauricio (SS/3B, NYM) now as both top prospects could be up with their big league clubs soon.

J.D. Martinez (OF/DH, LAD)

Martinez landed on the IL this week for a groin issue that apparently doesn’t stem directly from any incident or injury. Both he and the Dodgers aren’t sure what the cause was, but get this, maybe it’s because he’s 36 years old? I’m almost exactly five months older than J.D. and can’t do physical activities for weeks if I sit on a barstool for 10 minutes. (Seriously – barstools are the lowest tier of sitting apparatus. I would rather stand, thank you very much. Death to Big Barstool.)

In response, the Dodgers called up Michael Busch, who should at least get strong-side platoon bats after shredding Triple-A to the tune of .323/.432/.615 (149 wRC+) with 24 bombs this season. Busch promptly responded by jacking his first career homer in Cleveland on Thursday.

Busch would be a worthy replacement if you own Martinez and should be widely available. If you need an outfielder, might I suggest a Rockies player for their upcoming six-game homestand next week against the Braves and Blue Jays? Nolan Jones (62% CBS Ownership), Charlie Blackmon (49% CBS Ownership), Jurickson Profar (15% CBS Ownership), Brenton Doyle (5% CBS Ownership), and Michael Toglia (3% CBS Ownership) are all widely available and can suit your needs from shallow leagues all the way to NL-Only.

Henry Davis (C/OF, PIT)

The Pirates rookie was shelved Monday due to a lingering right hand strain. Let’s hope the injury isn’t preventing Davis from channeling Hailee Steinfeld in his alone time. No need to add pent-up frustration to an IL stint.

It’s possible that the strain has been bothering the former number-one pick as he has choked his way to a .196/.289/.348 line with four homers and two steals since the All-Star break. Josh Palacios and his abysmal 57 career wRC+ have taken over for Davis in right field, but at least the playing time opportunity allowed him to share these special moments with his little brother, the Cardinals’ Richie Palacios, on Monday:

If you are looking for a replacement fantasy catcher, one from the four horsemen of my weekly waiver wire article, Yainer Diaz (HOU, 55% CBS Ownership), Mitch Garver (TEX, 38% CBS Ownership), Endy Rodriguez (PIT, 21% CBS Ownership), and Ryan Jeffers (MIN, 9% CBS Ownership), are likely available in your league. And honestly, I might rather own any of those four for rest-of-season over Davis as hand issues can linger and quickly sap any semblance of power. If you are a masochist starting Davis in an outfield spot, I will refer you back to my suggestion of Rockies bats above.

Stone Garrett (OF, WSN)

Garrett was injured in an awful looking scene while jumping at the infamous Yankee Stadium right field wall to chase a DJ LeMahieu homer.

https://twitter.com/BarnHasSpoken2/status/1694517011294908828?s=20

Thankfully, the prognosis for Garrett’s career looks alright as he suffered a fractured fibula and nothing worse, but the injury will end his season.

The timing of the injury couldn’t have been worse for Stone as he was on a heater in August, sporting a .320/.379/.560 line (147 wRC+) with two homers and 12 RBI in 16 games. He played himself well into shallow league consideration. I hate to beat a dead horse, but if you need a replacement outfielder, those Rockies players look might tasty.

Okay, forcing me to come up with some new outfield suggestions? Ugh, fine.

If you were riding the Garrett hot streak in a shallow league, somehow, Kerry Carpenter (OF, DET) is only owned in 76% of CBS leagues and would be an immediate add if available. For a deeper league, Tommy Pham (ARI, 38% CBS Ownership) has been batting third regularly for the D-backs and produced a .250/.286/.472 with three homers and four steals in 18 games in the desert so far.

Jake Alu should be the main beneficiary of playing time in Washington to replace Garrett and is an intriguing NL-Only option with three steals so far in the majors after swiping 16 bags in Triple-A this year.

Ranger Suarez (SP, PHI)

Emerson Hancock (SP, SEA)

Two major injuries hit the backend of the starting pitcher pool this week as Suarez and Hancock went down with hammy and shoulder injuries, respectively.

Suarez had been slated to start this past Sunday but was scratched and placed on the IL, retroactively to August 16, with a mild right hamstring strain. There hasn’t been any news on Ranger’s eventual return, but the strain must not be too bad if he was close to starting on Sunday. He had been a little dodgy in the second half as his WHIP ballooned to 1.58 (compared to 1.34 in the first half) and his K-rate dropped (from 8.56 K/9 to 7.64) during 58.1 innings. The Phillies had an easy time accounting for the loss though as they had been rocking a six-man rotation and went back to boring old five-man (Wheeler, Nola, Walker, Lorenzen, Sanchez) while reinstating Jose Alvarado to take Suarez’s roster spot.

Hancock made his start on Sunday but was pulled after only two innings due to a sore shoulder. He was diagnosed with a strain, shelved, and will miss the remainder of the year. The 24-year-old flashed about what was expected from him with an average 4.50 ERA and six strikeouts over 12 big league innings. Definitely expect him to be in the mix for the Mariners’ fifth rotation spot next spring. To replace Hancock in the rotation, Seattle reinstated Bryan Woo from the IL and claimed Luke Weaver (puke emoji) from the Reds.

So if you were left depending on Ranger or Emerson to round out your rotation next week, you might want to consider Bryan Woo (51% CBS Ownership) if he is still available. Discounting his shaky two-inning debut against a Texas lineup that rocked him for six earned, Woo has been a dependable arm with a 3.79 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 9.32 K/9 in 57 innings since. Plus he has a brilliant two-start week ahead facing the A’s at home and Mets on the road.

If you need an option for a deeper league, former Mariners prospect Brandon Williamson has been quietly solid since the All-Star break. He has a 3.13 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 23.8% K-rate in 46 second half innings. Plus the Reds lefty also has a two-start week, facing the Giants on the road and Cubs at home.

Other Injuries

Here are some other dudes nursing injuries:

  • Matthew Liberatore (SP, STL) – back tightness
  • Jarren Duran (OF, BOS) – sprained toe
  • Billy McKinney (OF, NYY) – bad back
  • Yonny Chirinos (SP/RP, ATL) – sore elbow
  • Luis Medina (SP, OAK) – blister
  • Johnny Cueto (SP, MIA) – infection
  • Sal Frelick (OF, MIL) – bad hammy
  • Avisail Garcia (OF, MIA) – worse hammy
  • Kenley Jansen (RP, BOS) – cramped hammy
  • Merrill Kelly (SP, ARI) – another cramped hammy (seriously folks, it’s hot out there as the fossil fuel industry turns our planet into a fiery hellscape – stay hydrated!)
  • Nick Lodolo (SP, CIN) – lower leg stress fracture
  • Jack Flaherty (SP, BAL) – post-playing-for-the-2023-Cardinals syndrome (general fatigue)
  • Joey Votto (1B, CIN) – discomfort in previously surgically repaired shoulder
  • Michael Kopech (SP, CHW) – leg cramping, clearly not a hydro homie
  • Kevin Newman (INF, CIN) – oblique
  • Dylan Carlson (OF, STL) – ankle surgery
  • Keibert Ruiz (C, WSN) – light-headedness post-foul tip

And some various injury updates:

  • Jose Abreu (1B, HOU) – returned Thursday from bad back
  • Joe Ryan (SP, MIN) – returning this weekend from groin strain
  • Kyle Wright (SP, ATL) – rehabbin’ from shoulder injury
  • Ozzie Albies (2B, ATL) – could return this weekend without rehab assignment
  • John Means (SP, BAL) – rehab from TJ moved to Triple-A
  • Ben Lively (SP, CIN) – rehabbin’
  • Tejay Antone (RP, CIN) – rehabbin’ from TJ
  • Jonathan India (2B, CIN) – starting to run again
  • Jake Fraley (OF, CIN) – rehabbin’
  • Cal Quantrill (SP, CLE) – rehabbin’
  • Josh Naylor (1B/OF, CLE) – doing baseball activities (what?) on way back from oblique injury
  • Casey Mize (SP, DET) – throwing bullpens post-TJ
  • Michael Brantley (OF, HOU) – rehabbin’
  • Nick Pratto (1B/OF, KCR) – rehabbin’
  • Zach Neto (SS, LAA) – should start baseball activities soon
  • Julio Teheran (SP, MIL) – rehabbin’
  • Garrett Mitchell (OF, MIL) – rehabbin’
  • Chris Paddack (SP, MIN) – facing live hitters
  • Alex Kirilloff (1B/OF, MIN) – waiting to see if he’s ready to rehab, maybe the most Alex Kirilloff-thing ever
  • Mason Miller (SP, OAK) – rehabbin’
  • Mike Yastrzemski (OF, SFG) – taking part in workouts
  • Mitch Haniger (OF, SFG) – rehabbin’
  • AJ Pollock (OF, SFG) – ready for activity
  • Jarred Kelenic (OF, SEA) – hanging out with Josh Naylor, doing baseball activities
  • Nolan Gorman (2B, STL) – returning this weekend
  • Nathan Eovaldi (SP, TEX) – throwing from various distances
  • Chad Green (RP, TOR) – rehabbin’
  • Tanner Rainey (RP, WSN) – rehabbin’

Whew, I’m exhausted. Keelin should return next week – have a great weekend e’rybody!

The stats and ownership percentages below are updated as of noon central time on 8/25.

As always, if you want advice on specific roster decisions you might have, feel free to leave a comment. You can also find me on twitter (X) (@mcouill7).

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