Ellsbury could be done for a while
Worst thing in fantasy sports aside from losing, is losing one of your players or multiple players to an injury, especially one that will end his season. I am in a competitive fantasy baseball league and love it, I currently have the most points in my league however have been struck by the injury bug and boy has it come fast. Last night while looking at my team stats for the night I realized Evan Longoria only had two at bats, my heart skipped a beat and the first thing I thought was, injury. Sure enough sliding into second base Longoria injured his hamstring. It looks like Longoria will miss 6-8 weeks. What is worse than losing a player to an injury? Losing two. Earlier this season I lost Jacoby Ellsbury to a shoulder injury, also sliding into second base and he won’t be returning until July, if I’m lucky. What’s worse than losing two players to the injury bug? Losing three. A week ago Ryan Zimmerman my 3B/U was placed on the 15 day Disabled List with a sore right shoulder, he will be retro activated from the DL May 6th, however that doesn’t necessarily mean he will return on that date. Losing Ellsbury (2nd rounder), Longoria (3rd rounder) and Zimmerman (7th rounder) is a major blow to my ball club there is no mistaking that, but nobody in your league is going to feel bad for you, you have to fight through it. So you ask, what do I do now that I have lost three all-star caliber players to injuries? I attack the always reliable waiver wire. Look at players in the free agent market in your league, add any player in which you feel like has a lot of hope. For example earlier this season I added Edwin Encarnacion, no one thought Encarnacion was going to have a good season otherwise he would have been drafted, however, I liked him. He has always shown flashes of greatness and now that he has become DH for Toronto I took a shot in that dark and so far it has paid off. Take your shot in the dark with a glimmer of light in the room, do some research and find a guy that you love. Granted, this might be tough to do this late into the season at the 3B position because it is so thin. Another option would be lurking around the league to see who has depth at the position in which I need help. The position I need the most help has the least amount of depth in the league other than 2B. So I’m in trouble in that department. After losing these three players my biggest concern is holding three roster spots seeing my league doesn’t have a DL, meaning I only have three bench spots for the rest of my roster. This also means that I have to release a guy that I like a lot on my bench to fill space for a guy playing Longoria/Ellsbury/Zimmerman’s position.
Here’s what I did to fill each players spot:
Jacoby Ellsbury out until at least July: Ellsbury went down early in the season therefore I added depth at this position early on. My other OF’s to start the season consisted of Kemp, Ellsbury, and Bourn, so I was solid at that position, but with Ells going down I felt it necessary to add depth. I added Yoeni Cespedes after hearing good things about him in the off season. Cespedes is a Cuban born who was added by the Oakland Athletics in the offseason, he is off to a good start and filling in for Ellsbury nicely. An owner (some dope) in my league released Alex Gordon outfielder for the Kansas City Royals, Gordon hit .302 with 23 homers last season but was released because of his poor play to begin the season. Gordon started off the season 0 for 18 and that was when he was released. When he was released I was somewhat surprised because at the time I didn’t know he was doing so poorly, once again I took a shot. I thought there was no way a player with his talent was going to continue to struggle, plus it was just a short sample of at bats anyways. Since then Gordon is riding a four game hitting streak. Gordon is 8 for 16 (.500) with two homers, two doubles, five RBI, seven runs and one stolen base during the streak.
Ryan Zimmerman 15 day DL: Because I added depth at the outfield position it also meant that I added depth at my utility because I have four outfielders for only three spots and there is a lone utility position as well. Zimmerman was my utility man prior to injuring his shoulder, but once he went down I slipped Alex Gordon into that role.
Evan Longoria out 6-8 weeks: This Longoria injury has been the biggest blow to my club because he has been red hot and because it is the third injury. I have two third basemen on the roster and both of them are injured and right now I can’t afford to add one unless I desperately have to. My next week of play doesn’t begin until May 7th so I’m going to wait it out and see if Zimmerman will return otherwise I’m going to add Pittsburgh Pirate 3B Pedro Alverez, Alverez isn’t anything special but right now there is no one out there on the free agent market at 3B. Alverez is my only option.
Fantasy Note: Injuries suck, so always, always, always add depth and stay active on the waiver wire!
Fantasy Insider: Conner Patch @connerpatch68
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