Fantasy Baseball and MLB News, Rumors and Injury Updates

Fantasy Baseball: Injury Roundup

September 12, 2008 @ 09:11:45

By Alan Knopf, M.D. and Bryce McRae
Edited by Tim Heaney and Herija C. Green

The Fantasy Sports Doc - Expert Analysis - Dr. Alan Knopf's Take

Dr. Alan Knopf has been a clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Joint Implant Service at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles. He is an attending staff member of the school's County General Hospital - Keck School of Medicine. He specializes in knee, shoulder, ankle, hip and trauma surgery. Dr. Knopf is board certified by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American Board of Arthroscopic Surgery.

For more information regarding Dr. Knopf's work, please click here.

Billy Wagner | Relief Pitcher | New York Mets | Torn flexor pronator and medial collateral ligament in his left elbow | Status: Tommy John surgery; will miss rest of 2008 and possibly all of 2009 season

The inside ligament (medial collateral) of the elbow was torn from its attachment to the bone (humerus).

In this case, the muscle covering the medial collateral ligament - the pronator teres, which is also attached at the inside (medial) elbow - is also torn. This is due to a valgus deformity caused by a repetitive strain from the throwing motion, which causes the muscle to protrude out from its original attachment. This is a fatigue injury that commonly appears in pitchers and is another reason that coaches institute a pitch count.

The injury needs surgical repair, which usually requires a tendon graft (usually the palmaris longus in the forearm). This requires drilling holes in the inside elbow bones (humerus and ulna). This requires three months of controlled rest, typically with the arm in a splint or flexion extension brace.

Rehabilitation is started at six to eight weeks after surgery and may require up to 18 months before a full throwing motion and velocity are allowed.

Early return to activity may damage the repair and may lead to revision surgery. The primary Tommy John repair leads to about a 92 percent success rate to return to full velocity throwing motion.

Catchers

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Jesus Flores	WAS	ankle	No timetable	Wil Nieves	Retain in NL-only
Yadier Molina	STL	thigh	Saturday, Sept. 13	Jason LaRue	Hold in deep mixed
Jeff Clement	SEA	knee	Out for the year	Kenji Johjima	Discard in all

First Basemen

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Paul Konerko	CHW	knee	Next week	Dewayne Wise	Stash in deep mixed
Todd Helton	COL	back	Friday, Sept. 12	Ian Stewart	Deep mixed flier
Mark Teixeira	LAA	infection	Day-to-day	Kendry Morales	Retain in all

Second Basemen

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Brandon Phillips	CIN	finger	Done for the year	Andy Phillips/Danny Richar	Discard in single-year
Howie Kendrick	LAA	hamstring	No timetable	Brandon Wood	Hold in deep mixed
Kazuo Matsui	HOU	back	Late September	Geoff Blum	Retain in NL-only
Jeff Kent	LAD	knee	Late September	Blake DeWitt	Keep in NL-only
Mark Ellis	OAK	shoulder	Out for the season	Eric Patterson	Dump in all

Third Basemen

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Evan Longoria	TB	wrist	Activated, day-to-day	Willy Aybar	Do not drop in any
Chone Figgins	LAA	elbow	Day-to-day	Robb Quinlan	Retain in all
Melvin Mora	BAL	hamstring	Returned Thursday, Sept. 11	N/A	Return to lineups
Adrian Beltre	SEA	thumb	Returned Thursday, Sept. 11	N/A	Insert back into lineups
Carlos Guillen	DET	back	No timetable	Ryan Raburn/Mike Hessman	Drop in shallow mixed
Troy Glaus	STL	shoulder	Day-to-day	Felipe Lopez	Keep in deep mixed
Alex Gordon	KC	quadriceps	Saturday, Sept. 13	Mark Teahen	Acquire in deep mixed
Ty Wigginton	HOU	groin	Next week	Jose Castillo	Hold in deep mixed
Joe Crede	CHW	back	No timetable	Juan Uribe	Stash in AL-only

Shortstops

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Rafael Furcal	LAD	back	Late September	Angel Berroa	Stash in NL-only
Erick Aybar	LAA	hamstring	No timetable	Sean Rodriguez	Hold in AL-only
Julio Lugo	BOS	quadriceps	Possibly late September	Jed Lowrie	Release in all
Emmanuel Burriss	SF	oblique	Out for the year	Eugenio Velez	Velez a possible deep mixed flier

Outfielders

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Carlos Lee	HOU	finger	Minimal chance to return	Darin Erstad	Stash in NL-only
Carl Crawford	TB	finger	Late September	Rocco Baldelli	Hold in AL-only
Josh Hamilton	TEX	foot	Day-to-day	N/A	Keep in all leagues
Carlos Quentin	CHW	wrist	Likely done for the season	Dewayne Wise	Discard in all mixed
B.J. Upton	TB	quadriceps	Sept. 12-14	N/A	Do not drop
Milton Bradley	TEX	back	Day-to-day	N/A	Retain in all mixed
Magglio Ordonez	DET	back	Friday, Sept. 12	N/A	Keep in all lineups
Torii Hunter	LAA	quadriceps	Day-to-day	N/A	Keep in deep mixed
Rick Ankiel	STL	abdominal	Will be used "sparingly"	N/A	Drop in mixed
J.D. Drew	BOS	back	Activated, day-to-day	Coco Crisp	Deep mixed flier
Michael Cuddyer	MIN	foot	Late September	Denard Span	Stash in AL-only
Mike Cameron	MIL	knee	Returned Monday, Sept. 8	N/A	Deep mixed option
David Murphy	TEX	knee	Late September	Nelson R. Cruz	Hold in AL-only
Fred Lewis	SF	toe	Done for the year	Nate Schierholtz	Discard in all
Jerry Hairston Jr.	CIN	hamstring	Activated Monday, Sept. 8	N/A	Pick up in deep mixed
Jody Gerut	SD	finger	No timetable	Will Venable	Discard in mixed
Chris Dickerson	CIN	ankle	Day-to-day	N/A	Retain in NL-only

Designated Hitters

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Travis Hafner	CLE	shoulder	Activated Tuesday, Sept. 9	N/A	Pick up in deep mixed

Starting Pitchers

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Carlos Zambrano	CHC	shoulder	Should make next start	N/A	Activate for next start
Jered Weaver	LAA	hand	Returned Thursday, Sept. 11	N/A	Solid mixed option
Justin Duchscherer	OAK	hip	Possibly late September	Dana Eveland	Hold in AL-only
Rich Harden	CHC	arm	Returned Thursday, Sept. 11	N/A	Activate in all
Erik Bedard	SEA	shoulder	Not expected to return	N/A	Stash in AL-only
Johnny Cueto	CIN	elbow	Returned Saturday, Sept. 6	N/A	Deep mixed option
Randy Johnson	ARI	Shoulder, back	No timetable	Max Scherzer	Discard in all but NL-only
Pedro Martinez	NYM	body	Returned Sunday, Sept. 7	N/A	NL-only option
John Maine	NYM	shoulder	Likely done for the year	Jonathon Niese	Discard in single-year
Jeremy Guthrie	BAL	arm	Scratched Saturday, Sept. 13	Chris Waters	Solid option in deep mixed
Derek Lowe	LAD	knee	Tuesday, Sept. 16	N/A	Hold in all
Vicente Padilla	TEX	hamstring	Returned Tuesday, Sept. 9	N/A	Deep mixed wins option
Wandy Rodriguez	HOU	oblique	Next week	Alberto Arias	Retain in deep mixed
Sean Gallagher	OAK	shoulder	Activated Wednesday, Sept. 10	N/A	Pick up in AL-only
Bartolo Colon	BOS	oblique	Saturday, Sept. 13	N/A	Sleeper AL-only option

Relief Pitchers

Player	Team	Injury	Status/Projected Return	Fantasy Replacement	Fantasy Tip
Billy Wagner	NYM	forearm	Done for the year	Luis Ayala	Discard in all
Troy Percival	TB	back	Day-to-day	Dan Wheeler	Bench for now
George Sherrill	BAL	shoulder	Activated Thursday, Sept. 11, won't pitch back to back	N/A	Insert back in lineups
Kevin Gregg	FLA	knee	Returned Sept. 9, not closing	Matt Lindstrom	Deep mixed option
Takashi Saito	LAD	elbow	Saturday, Sept. 13	Jonathan Broxton	Grab if available in all
Chris Carpenter	STL	shoulder	Likely done for the year	Chris Perez	Discard in all
Jim Johnson	BAL	shoulder	Out for the season	N/A	Drop in all

Author Bio

Alan Knopf, M.D.
Dr. Alan Knopf has been a clinical professor of orthopedic reconstructive surgery and joint implant service at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles. He worked for 30 years at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Los Angeles, where he specialized in knee, shoulder, ankle, hip and trauma surgery. Dr. Knopf is certified in arthroscopic surgery.

Author Bio

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.