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Ben Rosener looks at the fantasy baseball impact of reported injuries to Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie and Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot.
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 Triston McKenzie and Ryan Pepiot both reportedly being placed on the injured list.
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Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Triston McKenzie Reportedly Being Placed On The Injured List
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie was reportedly placed on the injured list on Thursday, according to a tweet from The Athletic’s Zack Meisel. Meisel tweeted the following:
Per a previous tweet from Meisel on March 27, the starting pitcher reportedly “has a strain of his right teres major muscle (back of the shoulder) and will be shut down from throwing for 2+ weeks.”
It’s an unfortunate injury for the Guardians and fantasy managers alike. McKenzie enjoyed a breakout 2022 season, pitching to a 2.96 ERA, a 3.59 FIP, 190 strikeouts, and 44 walks in 191.1 innings for the American League Central club.
According to a tweet from Meisel on March 28, it’ll reportedly be right-hander Hunter Gaddis replacing McKenzie in the rotation.
Gaddis, a right-hander, was a fifth-round pick by the Guardians in the 2019 draft. He previously made his Major League Baseball debut in 2022, allowing 15 hits, 15 earned runs, seven home runs, and three walks while striking out five batters in two starts. In those two starts, the 24-year-old logged just 7.1 innings.
He was much more successful this past spring with a 2.77 ERA and 17 strikeouts compared to just three walks in 13 innings of work in Cactus League play. The right-hander does have a history of missing bats, with 158 strikeouts in 121.1 minor league innings this year, and could be a useful streaming option in the right matchup.
Still, Gaddis is likely more of a streaming option for a start or two than a long-term replacement for someone like McKenzie. In addition to his struggles in two starts last season, the hurler is pitching for a Cleveland team that was a decidedly mixed bag in terms of pitcher wins in the rotation last year.
While Cal Quantrill, Shane Bieber, and McKenzie all won double-digit games last season, Aaron Civale won just five of his 20 starts. Elsewhere, Zach Plesac came away with a pitcher win in just three of his 24 starts, while Konnor Pilkington won only one of his 11 outings as a starter.
Fantasy Baseball Impact Of Ryan Pepiot Reportedly Being Placed On The Injured List
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot is reportedly starting the year on the injured list, per a tweet from MLB.com’s Juan Toribio on Thursday. According to Toribio’s tweet, Pepiot reportedly has a left oblique strain.
The 25-year-old made his Major League Baseball debut for the National League West club last season, pitching to a 3.41 ERA and a 5.42 FIP in 36.1 innings of work. He also struck out 42 batters while surrendering 27 walks. Overall, Pepiot made nine appearances for the Dodgers last season, seven of which were starts.
Now, per the same tweet from Toribio, it will reportedly be Michael Grove stepping into Los Angeles’ rotation.
Grove, like Pepiot, made his Major League Baseball debut during the 2022 campaign. The 26-year-old made seven appearances, six of which were starts. He totaled 29.1 innings for the Dodgers, logging a 4.60 ERA and a 5.16 FIP while striking out 24 batters and surrendering 10 walks.
More recently, the right-hander logged a 5.40 ERA in 16.2 innings in Cactus League play, striking out 17 batters while walking just three. The strikeouts were nothing new for the former second-round pick, who struck out 90 batters in 76 minor league innings split between Los Angeles’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates last season.
Grove, unlike Gaddis, is in a much more fantasy-friendly situation where pitcher-win potential is concerned. Only the Houston Astros’ rotation logged more pitcher wins than the Dodgers’ 73 last season. Each starter who made at least 20 starts for Los Angeles last year won a minimum of 12 games, so there is significant pitcher-win upside here for Grove as long as he continues to stay in the rotation.
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