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The MLB offseason and Spring training are officially over. The regular season is here, and with it comes the daily influx of baseball news that fantasy managers missed in the winter months. Lineup news, actual games happening, constant waiver wire moves, pitching assignments, and bullpen usage.
Baseball is back, and so too is fantasy baseball, with the draft season having just wrapped up, or otherwise being very close to being wrapped up. This column aims to cover any and all fantasy baseball news, big or small, and how it pertains to your fantasy team. Spring training or the regular season, it's covered here.
Has a player who's usually been hitting in the middle of a lineup suddenly batting eighth or ninth for an extended period? The fantasy implications will be covered here. The same goes for injuries and injured placements and whether or not you should consider picking up a player who was recently called up. Basically, any kernel of fantasy news and its relevance to fantasy managers could be covered here. Today, the news of the day is the fantasy impact of injuries to New York Yankees designated hitter and outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and Oakland A's relief pitcher Dany Jimenez.
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Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Giancarlo Stanton's Hamstring Injury
The New York Yankees placed outfielder Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list on Sunday due to a left hamstring strain per a tweet from the American League East club’s official Twitter account:
The 33-year-old is once again providing quality power production for the Yankees this season, batting .269 with a .296 on-base percentage and four home runs in 54 plate appearances. Rather unsurprisingly, Stanton is hitting the ball hard at a high rate as well. So far, the veteran has logged a 22% barrel rate, a 61% hard-hit rate, and a .646 xSLG in those 54 plate appearances.
As to who Stanton’s direct replacement is, at least for fantasy purposes, that remains to be seen. The former Marlin has started eight games as the designated hitter for New York and five in right field so far.
Oswaldo Cabrera, who was called up to take Stanton’s place on the active roster, got the call in right field and hit seventh on Sunday with Willie Calhoun batting sixth just ahead of him and starting at designated hitter.
After an off-day Monday, New York went with Aaron Judge in right field (with Isiah Kiner-Falefa moving to center field) and Gleyber Torres starting at designated hitter on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels.
It’s possible that Yankees manager Aaron Boone utilizes the designated hitter spot to rotate players in for a day off from the field, similar to what he did with Torres on Tuesday.
However, it also may be that the extra plate appearances opening up at designated hitter allow Calhoun and Franchy Cordero to continue to see extended playing time. Calhoun entered play Tuesday hitting .176 in 17 plate appearances, while Cordero has collected four home runs in 38 plate appearances so far, hitting .222 with a .263 on-base percentage in the process.
Boone and the Yankees reportedly are hoping to get Stanton “back in six weeks” per a tweet from MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch on Tuesday.
During that time period, Cordero, whose 16.7% barrel rate ranks in the 86th percentile, is certainly a name to keep an eye on for fantasy managers in deeper leagues in search of additional power production. If he can continue to collect barrels and home runs – despite some unideal other underlying metrics like a 33.3% hard-hit rate and a .314 xwOBA – he’ll be a quality power-hitting option in deeper leagues.
Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Dany Jimenez's Shoulder Injury
Dany Jimenez was placed on the 15-day injured list by the Oakland A’s on Tuesday due to a strained right shoulder, according to a tweet from the American League West club’s official Twitter account. Also per the Athletics’ tweet, the move is retroactive to April 17.
In seven appearances so far this season, the right-hander has pitched to a 5.40 ERA and an 8.72 FIP in 6.2 innings of work, logging four strikeouts compared to six walks, and a pair of home runs allowed.
Perhaps most crucially for fantasy managers, Jimenez has the A’s only save this season, opening up a potential closing opportunity for relief pitchers who might be free agents or on waivers in a significant amount of fantasy leagues.
And while Oakland does have a few options for ninth-inning work, Zach Jackson looks like he might be the best bet to step in. Of course, that’s purely speculative, but Jackson has been the team’s most effective reliever so far this year, logging a 1.13 ERA and a 3.07 FIP in eight innings while adding 10 strikeouts compared to six walks allowed.
Adrian Martinez has arguably been the team’s second-best relief option, working to a 5.27 ERA, a 3.40 FIP, 12 strikeouts, and four walks in 13.2 innings – but all of his outings this season have been multi-inning appearances.
Elsewhere, Jeurys Familia is the most experienced reliever in the team’s bullpen, particularly when it comes to ninth-inning situations, with 125 lifetime Major League saves to his name. However, he’s allowed eight runs, six hits, six walks, and six earned runs in 7.2 innings this season while striking out just three batters.
It also remains to be seen just how many save chances the A’s will get while Jimenez is on the injured list. Oakland entered play Tuesday with a 3-14 record and 11 losses in their last 12 games. After finishing a series against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, they’ll play seven straight division road games, with a three-game series versus the Texas Rangers and a four-game set in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels.
Still, Jackson is probably the reliever to add here for fantasy managers in desperate need of saves, though it is worth noting that he’s been Oakland's second-most utilized reliever in high-leverage situations, tied with Jimenez and one behind Trevor May. So, while it’s possible he’ll get save chances, it’s also possible Jackson could be utilized earlier in a game to protect a lead.
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