Happy 2025! Welcome back to Razzball Ambulance Chasers, your fantasy baseball injury analysis.
Is there a better way to kick off the fantasy baseball season than with a sense of anxiety around your draft picks? The only way to find out is to go through. For the first post of 2025, let’s walk through some updates on some of the top ranked players.
Ronald Acuña Jr. (OF, ATL), knee: Many great people have something in common, and one of those things is drafting followed by losing Ronald Acuña Jr. to various knee injuries in their fantasy baseball league. Is it narcissistic to call people “great” if I’m in the group of people? Maybe, but that’s not the point. The point is Acuña Jr., while on the upswing, will miss at least the first month of the season. While it stinks, it isn’t completely surprising. The question really is “When will he be back?” and “Can he stay healthy?”. The opportunity to pick up Acuña Jr. at a discount is there. If it wasn’t already apparent, Acuña Jr., himself, shared he will be playing more cautious, pivoting towards more hitting and fielding and focusing less on running and stealing bases. Still, his stat lines are projected to be better than they were in 2024. Maybe it’ll be great. Maybe I’ll come back to this in a few months and have a hearty chuckle. Anything is possible.
Yordan Alvarez (OF, HOU), knee: Alvarez made it out of the 2024 season without knee surgery after a right knee sprain. Alvarez recently shared he will be back for spring training. Like Acuña Jr., Alvarez has been plagued by some lower body and leg issues. In 2020, he had surgery on his right knee for a tendon tear but has had no major leg injuries since then. Steamer projects Alvarez hitting .302/.394/.961 with 35 HR and 86 RBI this season.
Corbin Carroll (OF, ARI), a lot of stuff: It’s been almost a year since the “What the heck is up with Corbin Carroll?” Era began. There were some physical issues (shoulder and side) cascaded into form issues. Carroll started to come out of that at the end of the season, and the possibility for him to be BACK back in 2025 seems high. Currently, Steamer has him projected to hit 0.263/0.349/0.467 with 25 HR and 40 SB. Grey is a little higher on him than that, and honestly, now is a great time to watch Grey and Steamer go toe-to-toe.
Shohei Ohtani (SP/DH, LAD), shoulder: Will we get to see two-way player Shohei Ohtani in 2025? According to Dave Roberts, not yet. However, Ohtani resumed throwing in December and is expected to hit in preseason. He may start pitching as soon as May. Steamer projects Ohtani hitting .281/.372/.574 with 42 HR and 34 SB. He is ranked #2 in the Razzball Top 10 Rankings for 2025.
Fernando Tatis Jr. (OF, SDP), thigh: Last season, Fernando Tatís Jr. was out for a few months with a stress reaction to his thigh bone. He returned in September and followed quickly thereafter with a solid postseason, but ultimately, the Padres lost out to the Dodgers. Steamer has Tatís Jr. hitting .279/.345/.532 with 157 H and 35 HR with 18 SB. 18 SB seems conservative if Tatís Jr. can stay healthy.
Kyle Tucker (OF, CHC), shin: Like Tatís Jr., Tucker returned to play late last season. However, Tucker is returning to 2025 with a change of scenery from Houston to Chicago. Tucker dealt with a fractured shin that kept him out for a large part of the 2024 season. In 2024, Tucker finished the season with .289/.408/.585. For 2025, Steamer projects Tucker to hit .277/.367/.499 with 147 H and 29 HR.
That’s it for the first edition of your fantasy baseball injury analysis for the season. After this post, I will be stepping away from Ambulance Chasers for the rest of this season. However, I will still be hanging out with Razzball and occasionally fighting with people in the comments. So, please, don’t get too crazy.
In the interim, tell us about how your draft went/is going as well as anything you would like to know or see more of this season.
These days, you can find me over on Bluesky.
