Ambulance Chasers: Hamstring Has Stanton In One Leg

Hello, Razzballers!

First of all, I am very sorry for this article.

Second, another week of big name injuries, but the injuries this week are much smaller than last week. There have been hamstring injuries and a few familiar names returning (Stanton, Lodolo, Woo).

One notable injury Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s femoral stress fracture (femur fractures usually caused by overuse according to Dr. Google). He shared that he will be out until the end of the All-Star game, if not later.

Tatís Jr’s injury highlights how close we are to the dog days of summer. 60 day IL turns into “See you next year!” and roasters are checked.

For now, let’s enjoy this relatively easy week.

Significant Injury

AL East

Giancarlo Stanton (OF, NYY), hamstring: Stanton strained his hamstring while running the bases during the June 22 Yankees vs. Braves. Stanton will be out for about 4 weeks. Right now, the Yankees have Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Trent Grisham in the outfield. Trent Grisham should be readily available in your league and would be a good pick. He has shown his last 9 AB with 2 HR and 3 RBI.

This could be another area where Isiah Kiner-Falefa could be useful on rosters under Stanton. In his last 22 AB, IKF hit 2 HR, but his BABIP continues to be high. Maybe we will see him in IL soon as he got three HBP in one game.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa was hit by a pitch three times in a game for the first time in his career pic.twitter.com/U4Z1q6SyIz

– Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 28, 2024

AL West

Bryan Woo (SP, SEA), muscle: It’s been a roller coaster lately for Bryan Woo. Woo returns to Ambulance Chase this week with a strained hamstring and will be out for a few weeks or so. He is eligible to return on July 10, but his return could be a little later than July. Reliever Collin Snider is remembered from childhood.

As for the transition, Boston’s Zack Kelly continues to make an offense. In his last 11.7 IP, he threw 12.3 K/9 with 2.3 BB/9 (0.77 ERA, 1.06 FIP).

Start the morning with Zack Kelly putting his nice nuts on the table with the bases loaded and not out in the 7th.

Down 3-0 to Gleyber Torres and he didn’t fold.

Pure electricity. pic.twitter.com/NxjOJT4KKG

– Tyler Milliken ?? (@tylermilliken_) June 17, 2024

NL Central

TJ Friedl (OF, CIN), hamstring: Frequent IL visitor Friedl visits IL with right hamstring strain. He’s due back on the 4th of July, but he probably won’t (seems more likely to be mid to late July).

Houston Astro Chas McCormick can be helpful here. He had a slow start to the season but has been heating up lately (.364/.364/.909 with 2 HR, 4 RBIs, and 2 SB in his last 11 AB).

Oppo pop! Chas is on fire! He is 3 for 3 today with 2 homers pic.twitter.com/7S1J9dj04W

— Michael Schwab (@michaelschwab13) June 22, 2024

Nick Lodolo (SP, CIN), finger: Big loss for Cincinnati as Nick Lodolo joins IL with left index finger blister. He is eligible to return on July 9. The blister has not ruptured which means Lodolo may not need much time in the IL.

By now, it’s no secret that Kyle Hendricks has had a rough season, but he’s been working to shake that off lately. In his last 12.7 IP, Hendricks has 8.5 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 with a 1.61 FIP.

Kyle Hendricks has a 1.27 ERA in his last five outings! pic.twitter.com/oxxCWs6I70

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 26, 2024

NL East

Starling Marte (OF, NYM), knee: Marte will be out for at least four weeks with a right knee ligament injury. He spends the first two weeks of his off-season doing nothing baseball.

Look at Marte’s teammate Harrison Bader who is only 20% pitched in RCL leagues. Bader has 2 HRs and 3 RBIs in his last 17 AB. During that time he is hitting .353/.389/.882. This season, he has a 113 wRC+.

NL West

Gabriel Moreno (C, ARI), sixth: Moreno will be out until at least July 2 with a sprained thumb he suffered while catching a game on June 21. Moreno has a history of thumb injuries that includes a fracture in 2021. Fortunately, Torey Lovullo shared that he expects Moreno to stay at least 10 days in IL.

In the meantime, check out Kyle Higashioka of San Diego. Higashioka is featured in only 6% of RCL leagues. In his last 16 for AB, Higashioka is hitting .375/0.444/1.000 with 3 HR and 10 RBIs

Kyle Higashioka’s last 15 games:
.290-BA/7-HR/17-RBI

Juan Soto’s last 15 games:
.227-BA/2-HR/4-RBI

It really makes you think pic.twitter.com/rorejc03IQ

– Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) June 26, 2024

Injury Updates

Here are a few quick injury updates for this week. If I missed someone, hit me up in the comments.

• Kerry Carpenter (OF, DET), back: targeting a mid-July return that could extend to the trade deadline.
• Evan Carter (OF, TEX), back: should be back in 1-2 weeks per Bruce Bochy.
• Triston Casas (1B, BOS), ribs: he started swinging again but no timeline has been confirmed by Alex Cora.
• Yu Darvish (SP, SDP), groin: return delayed due to elbow swelling; no updated timeline for the restoration has been provided yet.
• Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B, CIN), arm: out of season.
• Zac Gallen (SP, ARI), muscle: he can come back today.
• Yimi García (RP, TOR), elbow: long throw from 120 feet by The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath.
• Robert Gasser (SP, MIL), elbow: Tommy John surgery; out of season.
• Vaughn Grissom (2B/SS, BOS), hamstring: It’s not clear that the renovations were made by Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.
• Eloy Jiménez (DH, CWS), hamstring: He strained his hamstring in his first game back but returned to the lineup.
• Josh Jung (3B, TEX), arm: slows down recovery with wrist inflammation.
• Dean Kremer (SP, BAL), triceps: renewal assignment.
• Max Muncy (3B, LAD), oblique: may resume this week via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group.
• Lars Nootbaar (OF, STL), oblique: renewal assignment.
• Robbie Ray (SP, SFG), elbow: renewal assignment.
• Jordan Romano (RP, TOR), elbow: resumed the throwing program and may return in early July.
• Blake Snell (SP, SFG), groin: rehab assignment but shared with the media that he felt the Giants were pressuring him to return sooner than he would have liked; sounds like a recipe for success!
• Jeffrey Springs (SP, TBR), elbow: renewal assignment.
• Kodai Senga (SP, NYM), applause: they may start a refresher assignment next week.
• Alek Thomas (OF, ARI), hamstring: he’s back on rehab assignment and could be back in the lineup next week.
• Kyle Tucker (OF, HOU), shin: could begin baseball activities this weekend.
• Justin Verlander (SP, HOU), neck: what has been called “neck pain” continues to prevent Verlander from throwing at all.
• Gavin Williams (SP, CLE), elbow: he is on a rehab assignment and could return to the lineup next week.
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto (SP, LAD), shoulder: good recovery but don’t throw yet according to Dave Roberts.

That’s what the Ambulances were chasing this week. To those watching, have a great American flag holiday.

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