Fantasy Baseball Players to Target after MLB Injuries to Eury Perez, Josh Jung, Justin Steele, Royce Lewis and More

Discussing some of the bigger injury news in the MLB since the start of the regular season.

We are just a week into the MLB season, but there’s been some big injury news that’s broken already.

Let’s discuss some of the bigger fantasy baseball injuries and how you should act as a fantasy owner.

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Eury Perez Out for Season

The big reason for this article today is the news that Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez is out for the entire 2024 season. He needs Tommy John surgery because of a right elbow injury he sustained this spring.

It’s a devastating blow to a Miami team that was already reeling to start the regular season. Now, they’ll be without their 20-year-old phenom, and that will leak into the 2025 season as well.

Perez made his MLB debut in 2023, making 19 starts. He went 5-6 with a 3.15 earned run average. Perez struck out 108 batters over 91 1/3 innings, while walking 31.

Perez looked like a breakout fantasy candidate for this season, and was thought to be a steal with his Average Draft Position around pick 130. Now, the fantasy owners that drafted Perez have a gaping hole in their fantasy rotation, and will likely be scrambling to fill the spot throughout the season.

In redraft leagues, Perez can be safely dropped. In dynasty/keeper leagues, you definitely want to do your best to hang on to Perez. Many pitchers are able to make a full recovery from Tommy John surgery, and a handful of them are actually better after the surgery.

Perez had an extremely bright future in the league, and even with a year-plus setback, he’s still way ahead of most pitching prospects. As long as he can avoid setbacks, or another major injury over the rest of his career, he could still be one of the top pitchers in the league at some point.

Miami was already down Sandy Alcantara for the entire season, and Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett are both on the 15-day injured list to open the season. That’s left Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers, Trevor Rogers and Max Meyer in the starting rotation at the start of the season.

While the injuries to Perez and Alcantara don't necessarily affect any other pitcher’s fantasy outlook, it does open a couple rotation spots.

Luzardo is owned in every league already, but no other Miami hurler is over 80% owned. That means you’ll want to keep a close eye on how the members of the rotation fare as the season rolls along. It’s possible a couple guys turn into quality fantasy starters that could help plenty of fantasy teams out. The FantasySP team not only highlights the top pitchers each day, but publishes stories on streaming options. Keep an eye out for those kinds of stories, and hopefully you can pick up the Miami starter that becomes a big-time fantasy asset.

Victor Robles, Matt Carpenter Hit 10-Day IL

Robles and Carpenter aren’t huge fantasy pieces, but them hitting the IL opens opportunities for other players.

Washington called up Jacob Young to replace Robles. St. Louis added Pedro Pages to the roster in place of Carpenter.

Young could possibly platoon with Eddie Rosario in centerfield. Ildemaro Vargas is another option in the outfield with Robles out of action.

Bringing up Pages for Carpenter is interesting because Pages is now the third catcher on the roster for the Cardinals. 

The move could allow the team to put backup catcher Ivan Herrera into the lineup (as a designated hitter) a little more often. Brandon Crawford should pick up any starts Carpenter was getting, with the ultra-versatile Brendan Donovan helping spell any players that need a rest otherwise.

Jason Heyward Out With Back Tightness

Heyward was placed on the 10-day IL with lower back tightness. 

That should mean James Outman is in the lineup everyday against righties until Heyward is back. Enrique Hernandez and Taylor Trammell could also get some extended playing time until the veteran outfielder returns.

Trevor Megill Put on Concussion List

The Brewers’ reliever was put on the seven-day concussion IL on Wednesday after a scary incident.

Megill was thrust into a high-leverage role after the injury to Devin Williams, so now the back end of the Brewers’ bullpen is really lacking. J.B. Bukauskas was called up to replace Megill.

There was a thought that Megill could get some save opportunities with Williams out, but Abner Uribe has mostly handled those so far. Joel Payamps should get most of the high-leverage innings in front of Uribe until Megill returns.

Brusdar Graterol Moved to 60-Day IL

Graterol is one of the top bullpen arms for Los Angeles, but now he’ll be out until mid-May.

Evan Phillips is the team’s closer, but Graterol was supposed to help set him up. Now that role falls to Daniel Hudson and Joe Kelly, among others.

If you hoped to have Graterol be a top fantasy reliever for you, stash him on IR if you can, otherwise, it’d probably be smartest to try to locate another reliever instead of letting Greterol waste a roster spot for the next several weeks.

Josh Jung Fractures Wrist

The Texas Rangers figure to contend for the World Series title again, but will have to go without Jung for a while after he fractured his right wrist earlier this week. It looks like Jung will miss at least two months of action.

Prospect Justin Foscue was called up in a corresponding move for the Rangers. He’s expected to at least split time with Josh Smith at third base. 

Foscue could be the odd man out when Nathaniel Lowe returns from his injury, but for the time being, Foscue and Smith are streaming options in a loaded Rangers’ lineup.

Justin Steele Hits IL

The Chicago Cubs top starting pitcher didn’t even make it through one start before going down with a strained left hamstring. It looks like Steele will be out until at least May, which is a blow to the Cubs and the fantasy owners that spent a pick on Steele.

Chicago has gone with a four-man rotation without Steele around, with Ben Brown recently serving as a follower in the fifth starting spot. Kyle Hendricks, Jordan Wicks, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad are the other four starting pitchers right now.

Wicks, Assad and Hendricks are all streaming options and owned in less than 15% of leagues. Keep checking FantasySP to see when they’d be decent streaming options.

Royce Lewis Injured Again

Lewis had two hits (including a home run) in the season opener for the Twins, then hit the IL the next day with a right quadricep injury. He’s expected to miss at least a month, and had a platelet-rich plasma injection to try to make the recovery process a bit smoother.

Lewis only played 58 games a season ago, so unfortunately many people are already labeling him an injury-riddled player. It’s unfortunate, because he has a career .313 average and .369 on-base percentage against 71 career games.

Lewis was a top-100 fantasy pick, and was looked at as a steal - going later because of injury concerns. Well, the injury concerns were valid, and now fantasy owners have a massive hole to fill. Hopefully, you had a backup plan in place for Lewis potentially missing time.

Willi Castro has started at third base in Lewis’ absence. Austin Martin was the player recalled from the minor leagues when Lewis hit the IL.

#injury #2024-fantasy-baseball