Top 25 Injured Players to Stash: Fantasy Baseball Week 23

We received some good news on the injury front lately with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ranger Suarez among some of the players who have recently returned. However, there are still plenty of big names who are on the shelf as we approach the stretch run.

With September almost here, we are running out of time for some notable fantasy options to return and help fantasy managers. If their return isn’t close and IL spots are dwindling on your roster, there comes a point in which players can’t be held much longer.

In our Injured Players to Stash for Fantasy Baseball series this week, we’ll look at some big names who could be on the cusp of returning. Below is a list of 25 players who are injured and their injury status.

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Top 25 Injured Players for Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy Baseball Players to Monitor Closely

Jared Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates (SP)

Rostered: 77% Yahoo!

Estimated Return: late August, early September

Let’s start things off with some good news. Jones has been on the injured list since the beginning of July with a lat injury. He looked shaky in his first rehab outings, but he couldn’t have looked much better in his last start Tuesday at Triple-A. He logged five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks, and finishing with 10 strikeouts.

Jones is slated to make his return to the Pirates on Tuesday against the Cubs. In his last rehab outing, he threw 73 pitches. With the expectation that he should throw at least 80 pitches in his return, he’s safe for fantasy managers to feel comfortable starting moving forward.

Luis Gil, New York Yankees (SP)

Rostered: 82% Yahoo!

Estimated Return: early September

Coming back from Tommy John surgery, there was some concern that the Yankees could limit Gil’s innings. They haven’t as they push for a playoff spot, but Gil is now on the injured list with a back injury. It might be a blessing in disguise, given that Gil has already logged 124.2 innings and the Yankees want to have him available for what they hope will be a long playoff run.

Gil’s injury is considered minor. There is a chance that he only misses the minimum 15 days, so he could be available to fantasy managers for the majority of September. While he hasn’t been as dominant as he was early on, he still has a 27.5% strikeout rate for the season to go along with his 3.39 ERA and 3.87 FIP.

Yu Darvish, San Diego Padres (SP)

Rostered: 59% Yahoo!

Estimated Return: mid-to-late September

Darvish has not pitched for the Padres since May because of an elbow injury and a personal matter. He has now returned to the team and threw a 27-pitch bullpen session Friday. He said he is feeling healthy, so now that the injury is behind him, it should be just a matter of building up his pitch count.

Since Darvish has been out for so long, he likely has a ways to go before we see him on a mound in the majors again. However, the Padres are in the thick of the playoff hunt, so getting Darvish back at any point in September could be huge. Keep an eye out for updates on Darvish in the coming days as he could be a valuable fantasy option for the last couple of weeks of the season.

Zach Eflin, Baltimore Orioles (SP)

Rostered: 92% Yahoo!

Estimated Return: early September

The Orioles’ starting rotation is a mess because of injuries. Grayson Rodriguez (lat) isn’t close to making a return and Trevor Rogers has pitched so poorly that he was sent down to the minors. Eflin was their latest starter to land on the injured list after he suffered a shoulder injury.

The good news for the Orioles is that Eflin is only dealing with shoulder inflammation and is already feeling much better. He has said that he expects to be ready to return when he is first eligible, which would be September 1. Prior to his injury, Eflin was performing well with his 3.72 ERA and 3.54 FIP. He should step right back into a prominent role for both the Orioles and fantasy managers.

Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds (SP)

Rostered: 92% Yahoo!

Estimated Return: mid-to-late September

Greene is in the midst of a breakout campaign that has seen him record a 2.83 ERA and a 3.41 FIP. While his strikeout rate is down a bit, it’s still great at 27.8%. One of his biggest improvements has been limiting hard contact. He has allowed a 4.9% barrel rate and a 33.0% hard-hit rate. Last season, he allowed a 9.0% barrel rate and a 44.1% hard-hit rate.

Fantasy managers were dealt a significant blow when Greene landed on the injured list with an elbow injury. While it was initially feared that his season could be over, tests have confirmed that he has no UCL damage. The best case scenario for him is a mid-September return, so don’t drop him just yet.

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