Colorado Rockies OF Matt Holliday placed on DL

May 25, 2008 @ 03:13:15

By Bryce McRae
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

The Colorado Rockies have placed OF Matt Holliday (hamstring) on the 15-day disabled list, according to The Associated Press. He suffered the injury while running out a grounder to third base in the ninth inning Saturday, May 24, against the New York Mets.

Holliday became yet another of the team's top players to land on the disabled list or deal with an injury this season. His injury further weakens the Rockies, who are struggling to field capable bodies. Outfielder Willy Taveras (knee) and third baseman Garrett Atkins (neck) have each missed two games as well.

Holliday is coming off a season that saw him finish second in the NL MVP race. He was a beast down the stretch, finishing the second half with a .338 average, 21 home runs and 68 RBIs, buoyed by a September in which he .367 with 12 home runs.

This season Holliday has been one of the lone sources of offense in the Rockies lineup. He is hitting .321 with eight home runs, 26 RBIs and 33 runs - not great numbers, but decent enough considering the turmoil surrounding him. It is not certain how long he will miss, but for now, stash him in a DL spot or on the bench.

The team called up outfielder Cory Sullivan from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Holliday's place on the roster. For the Sky Sox, Sullivan was hitting .285 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 158 at-bats. He has a lifetime .281 average in the majors with only eight home runs, so don't expect him to do much for fantasy purposes.

When he's healthy, Taveras, along with Seth Smith, Ryan Spilborghs and Scott Podsednik, should get most of the playing time in the outfield. Expect Sullivan to be an occasional fill-in.

Taveras has struggled this year with a .235 average, though the speedy outfielder has 19 stolen bases and 24 runs. He has been dropped in some leagues, although that seems a bit premature, especially for those in need of steals.

Spilborghs has been an unexpected source of offense with a .291 average and 17 RBIs. Recently he had been playing more because of the struggles of Taveras and outfielder Brad Hawpe (hamstring), who is also on the disabled list.

Podsednik was starting in center field May 25. After his dramatic slide with the Chicago White Sox, he has done a serviceable job for the Rockies, hitting .265 with 11 runs and seven stolen bases this year.

Finally, Smith is relatively inexperienced (14 career at-bats), but he was hitting .321 with six home runs and 30 RBIs in 159 at-bats with Colorado Springs. He smacked a home run and drove in three Sunday.

The team is looking at a patchwork outfield with Holliday joining Hawpe on the disabled list; Taveras' situation doesn't help. Spilborghs and, to a lesser degree, Podsednik could receive consideration in fantasy leagues, though only in deeper mixed and NL-only formats. Smith is a watch list candidate in NL-only formats, and Sullivan has no value.

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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