Spring Injury News

Senior Beisbol (@HoffyBeisbol) seniorbeisbol@gmail.com www.profantasybaseball.com Spring Training baseball is finally here. Unfortunately, so are Spring Training injuries. I never understand why people would draft a month before the season starts, too many things can happen over the six weeks spent leading up to the moment when games start to count. Players win and lose position battles and rotation spots, the last few free-agents finally find teams, and most importantly, players get hurt. In the first week of games there have already been a few notable injuries. None of these guys are fantasy superstars, but all three find themselves on fantasy rosters. Now they find themselves in the infirmary. Alex Gordon - 3B/Kansas City Royals Gordon missed most of 2009 after having hip surgery, but looked fully recovered when camp opened last week. He was looking forward to regaining his job as the everyday 3rd baseman when broke his thumb sliding head first into 2nd base on Saturday and will now be out 3-4 weeks. His status for opening day is in doubt, but he should be back sometime in April. So far in his baseball career, Gordon has been mostly hype and potential. He has not yet displayed on the field what made him the number two overall pick in the 2005 Amateur Draft. A lot of experts were calling him a 'post-hype sleeper,' and were looking for him to post a 15/15 season this year. His thumb injury does not seem to be serious, but any kind of hand injury usually has a lingering effect on power numbers. I would guess the best thing we see out of Gordon is a .250/10/70/15 line. Joe Nathan - CL/Minnesota Twins Nathan has not been diagnosed with anything yet, but when a pitcher leaves camp to have his elbow examined, doctors rarely seem to give positive news. He had surgery last October to remove bone spurs and recently complained of elbow soreness after a throwing session. As a closer, Joe Nathan is one of the best in the game. A model of consistency since joining the Twins six years ago, he has averaged over 40 saves with an ERA of under 2.00 and a WHIP of under 1.00. We should hear more on his elbow in the next few days, but if he is out for any period of time Jon Rauch would make a good speculative add as he is the only guy in the bullpen with any closing experience. Russel Martin - C/Los Angeles Dodgers Martin will miss up to six weeks after an MRI revealed a pulled groin. Martin posted his worst numbers as a pro in 2009, sporting career lows in HR, RBI, R, AVG, and was one above his career low in stolen bases. He was primed for a bounce-back year, coming into camp after gaining nearly 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason. Groin injuries are tricky things. The only way to get better is to rest, and even then they are prone to reoccur. I would guess that this might limit Martin on the basepaths when he returns. This injury should drop him a few slots on the draft board at an already very thin catching position. His backups are Brad Ausmus and AJ Ellis, neither of whom are rosterable even if Martin misses any extended time. With less than four weeks to Opening Day there will assuredly be more Spring Training news. Keep checking back here for more updates.

Injury Returns

by Scout Hoffman

http://www.profantasybaseball.com/

Two players carrying a boatload of preseason hype have returned from long injury layoffs recently. Alex Gordon (25% Yahoo / 54% ESPN) returned from hip surgery, and Ryan Doumit (66% Yahoo / 65% ESPN) is back from wrist surgery. Both players were initially thought to be out for much longer, but have come back in time to make a fantasy impact for the stretch run. Doumit appeared out of nowhere last year to become a top 10 fantasy catcher, and he was drafted as such this spring. He started off a bit slow and was then sidelined for 12 weeks with what was first rumored to be a season ending wrist injury.

He has hit three homers in the past three games so there appears to be no lingering effects of the injury. His average should rise as he starts to pile up the ABs and he gets more comfortable at the dish. Look for double digit homeruns, and an average around .280 for the remainder of the year. The Pirates have traded away almost their entire opening day roster and are probably not done dealing, so there is no telling what kind of AAA lineup will be surrounding Doumit come August 1st. His runs and RBI may take a bit of a hit because of the lack of production around him. Alex Gordon suffered a similar hip injury to another Alex who mans the hot corner. Unlike A-Rod, there was very little hype surrounding the return of the 2008 sleeper pick. The Royals haven’t seen a pennant race in years so there is no reason to believe that Gordon was rushed back and is at further risk of injury.

Gordon only played in seven games prior to missing three months and was not exactly tearing the cover off the ball in those games. He has four hits in his first five games since returning last week and has managed to raise his average nearly 100 points. If you have room on your bench he is not a bad player to stash, as he has showed flashes in the past of what made him the number two overall pick in 2005.

Just by being a catcher, I see Doumit having more fantasy value than Gordon. The early power returns shows me that Doumit can return to claim his top 10 catcher position for the remainder of the season. There are still plenty of owners who are waiting for Gordon to break out, and I could see it happening next year, but I do not see him as much more than a ocean deep league, back-up infielder for the rest of the year.