Fantasy Baseball Spring Training News and Notes for 3/24/16

Injury Update Desk is Overflowing With News

Normally, this news and notes section isn't limited to only injury-related updates, but there was enough updates on fantasy relevant players that the obvious theme couldn't be ignored.

Two prominent members of the fantasy world and the Toronto Blue Jays, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and outfielder Jose Bautista, went down with injuries this week, though early word is that they are both minor. Tulowitzki, ranked 2nd among his position by our experts, was hit on the right hand by a Bartolo Colon pitch during Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Mets. Post-game x-Rays revealed no structural damage to his hand, though it is being reported his knuckles were pretty bruised. With Tulowitzki having earned his injury-prone label in full, any nick or scratch brings about an immediately red alert and loud sirens. False alarm...so far.

Bautista was scratched from Wednesday's game before it even started, as he is suffering from a stiff neck. What may have led to this wasn't reported, but the Blue Jays said they don't expect it to be an issue and that they expect Bautista back in a couple of games. Ranked by our experts as the 5th-best outfielder, he was hitting .200 with two home runs and seven RBI in eight spring games before the injury.

Accompanying news about those to was an update on our experts' 4th-ranked first baseman, Edwin Encarnacion. He is day-to-day after straining an oblique muscle. Encarnacion has yet to take a Spring Training at-bat between this oblique and an abscessed tooth from earlier in the spring. Though he is expected to take batting practice Friday, he's running out of time to show he's healthy and ready for the regular season. If you drafted Encarnacion, this weekend will go a long way to showing whether his fantasy owners need to look for a temporary backup or not if he were to miss time in April.

Over in the Yankees' camp, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was hopeful he could return to game action Thursday after taking batting practice on Wednesday. But his injured right wrist, hurt after Ellsbury was hit by a pitch Saturday, again kept him out of the lineup. The Yankees are being cautious with the injury, something fantasy owners of RotoBaller's 24th-ranked outfielder can, at the very least, appreciate, but that it's still lingering is something to note when it comes to a man well-known for his time spent on the DL.

The Marlins are dealing with a similar wait-and-see injury with outfielder Marcell Ozuna. After initially being in Wednesday's lineup, he was removed before the first pitch and was again out of the lineup on Thursday. Ozuna is dealing with a sore right ankle after jamming it during a slide into third base during Tuesday's game against Boston. A trendy buy low pick after he followed up a promising 2014 with the exact opposite in 2015, our experts' 57th-ranked outfielder has earned back his starting center fielder job with a scorching spring, batting .357 with two home runs and seven RBI. Ankle injuries can be tricky, especially for a player at a physically taxing position such as center field, but as long as it doesn't linger, it is still "all aboard" for the Ozuna Comeback Train.

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