Howdy, Razzfolks!
We’ve reached the end, just about. Playoffs start Monday in Yahoo standard leagues. Kudos to you if you’re still alive and breathing, and I hope us ne’er-do-wells here at Razzball helped you along the way. Or at least I hope we entertained you, if nothing else!
Chicago White Sox fans have a lot of good news coming their way, and doubly so if you’ve got one or more of these guys on your fantasy teams. Let’s see what else this week brought us on the injury front:
Infielders
Adalberto Mondesi: STILL NOT INJURED AGAIN! IT’S ANOTHER SEPTEMBER MIRACLE!
this really is happening AGAIN pic.twitter.com/DMx8fsyPiM
— JKJ (@jkj0787) September 6, 2021
Yeahhhhh sure his stats have dropped since this tweet, but isn’t it still fun?
Tim Anderson: IL (hammy) – TA7 has been hitting, running some, and doing some fielding drills. Progressing slowly but surely. And maybe it’d be a little faster if he were needed, but the Chi Sox have run away with the AL Central this year, so there’s zero reason to rush this process. Great for his Sox fans; not great for his fantasy fans.
Wander Franco: DTD (hammy) – Isn’t your very favorite thing when someone comes back from an injury only to sustain a different injury? Franco avoided a concussion about a week ago only to leave yesterday’s game early due to hammy tightness. Probably definitely most likely absolutely precautionary given the Rays are comfortably in the playoffs already.
Willy Adames: IL (quad) – Adames is once again on the Irritating List, having reaggravated a quad injury last weekend. Tough to say when he could be back at this point. My hunch is he won’t be.
Outfielders
Alex Dickerson: IL (hammy) – A-Dick isn’t a game-changer, but he can ball at times, and somehow the Giants have been collectively balling all year. A rehab stint could start soon, and maybe just maybe Dickerson gets back in time to contribute. Did I really bring him up more for the chance at using “A-Dick” in a published piece of writing? You bet your ass I did.
Eloy Jimenez: DTD (knee) – Jimenez missed a couple games with a knee bruise, but he was back in the lineup yesterday. Maybe this isn’t all that newsworthy most weeks, but it’s kinda cool all these Chi Sox dudes are coming back around the same time. Unless you hate the Chi Sox, I guess.
George Springer: DTD (knee) – Springer finally made it back yesterday. Blue Jays Twitter was not impressed. It’s pretty evident he’s not fully healthy, but the Jays are in “risk it for the biscuit” mode, fighting for their Wild Card lives.
J.D. Martinez: DTD (back) – JDM was scratched yesterday, and everyone immediately thought “COVID!!!” cuz Boston is getting by COVID. Just back spasms after all. Shouldn’t be much of a thing. Probably. Sucks, cuz JDM had been hot over his last 12 games, slashing .340/.389/.540 with 2 HR and 10 RBI when he’d been real cold like the entire second half.
Mike Trout: IL (calf) – The “latest” is Trout has not given up on returning this year. What he doesn’t know is that I have.
Starters
Carlos Rodon: DTD (fatigue) – Rodon returned yesterday, tossing 5 strong innings, allowing 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, with 7 K. The man hasn’t pitched a quality start since July 18, but he’s still providing good strikeouts and ratios. One of my favorite things about this season has been a healthy Carlos Rodon finally doing what everyone knew he could.
Chris Sale: IL (COVID) – Sale tested positive. Coooooooooool. He was supposed to start tomorrow. Ugh. Sale hasn’t been quite as good as we’ve been accustomed to, most notably allowing more hits (10.44 H/9 this year, when he’s normally 3 or 4 [or 5!] ticks lower than that). But, still an elite K-rate (10.8 K/9) and dope BB-rate (2.16 BB/9).
Clayton Kershaw: IL (forearm) – Kershaw sounds ready to return, and is expected to do so sometime early this coming week.
Gerrit Cole: DTD (hammy) – A hamstring injury shouldn’t leave Cole owners hamstrung *buh dun, chhhhh* cuz Cole is expected to make a normal start in the coming days. He wasn’t great last time out, but if anyone can right the ship in no time, it’s ol’ Cole.
Jacob deGrom: IL (forearm) – So apparently his ligament is fine. The plan is to build him up normally and for him to return sometime this month. If you’ve got the roster/IL space and your team is still alive, then by all means get ready to play him when he’s ready! For most people, I wouldn’t give that advice. But when deGOAT is involved, well, they don’t call him deGOAT for nothin’.
The full Jacob deGrom quote: “I know what was said but my ligament is perfectly fine. I’ve been throwing. I wouldn’t be throwing if I had a compromised ligament. That’s the plan, to continue to throw and build up and see where we end up."
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) September 9, 2021
Lance Lynn: IL (knee) – Lynn has been activated and will start tomorrow’s game!
Lucas Giolito: IL (hammy) – Sounds like Gio is also ready to return, and he’s penciled in tentatively-but-probably for Tuesday’s game. So many Chi Sox on the up and up!
Pablo Lopez: IL (shoulder) – Pab-Lo has started throwing pen sessions again. Does he ramp up in time to help you win a fantasy title?! Stay tuned!!!
Shane Baz: DTD (stomach virus) – I don’t normally update prospect news cuz 1). prospects aren’t really my jam in the first place, and 2). it’s not something for the everyday fantasy player, which is more my jam. But news is kinda light these days as the season marches slowly into the sunset, and while I may not know as many prospects as the next guy, I know this guy is a good one. If you were worried something terrible happened that caused him to miss his last start, it was just a stomach virus. I mean, those suck of course, but relatively speaking they’re harmless for fantasy.
Shane McClanahan: IL (back) – McLanahan found his way to the injured list with a back problem, but it’s not thought to be very serious at all; he should just miss one start. Here’s to hoping! I know this ain’t everything, but he’s got a very interesting Statcast profile: looks good in the whiff, chase rate, walks rate, and strikeout rate departments, but looks very bad virtually everywhere else. Like, not just bad, but legit very bad.
Relievers
Jonathan Loaisiga: IL (rotator cuff) – Strained rotator cuff for Johnny Lasagna. His fantasy season is donezo. RIP to those sweet reliever wins and juicy SVHD totals.
Nick Anderson: IL (elbow) -. Excellent news for Rays fans: Anderson has joined the team and could be activated this very day! Or tomorrow! Not excellent news for Andrew Kittredge rosterers: Anderson has joined the team and could be activated this very day! Or tomorrow!
Taylor Rogers: IL (finger) – Officially ruled out ROS, so continue to hold Alex Colome with confidence the rest of the way (as much confidence as one can muster when Colome is concerned).
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.
