Hunter Greene’s Elbow Surgery Headlines Latest Fantasy Baseball Injury News

The World Baseball Classic is the focus of baseball fans right now, but there's still a fantasy baseball season to come, so we'll keep informing you on the most important news. Here, we'll go over some injuries.

We will discuss the real-world and fantasy baseball implications of each injury. Let's dive in.

Fantasy baseball injury news can be found all season on FantasySP.

Greene to Miss Extended Time

The big injury news, and the main reason for this article, is Hunter Greene, the Reds' starting pitcher.

He has bone chips and loose bodies in his right elbow and is going to have surgery on March 11. Greene has a timeline of 14-16 weeks, and will be out until July.

The 26-year-old righty has pitched in the big leagues over the past four years now. Greene has a career 3.65 earned run average, but has been at a 2.75 and 2.76 ERA over the past two campaigns.

He made just 19 starts last season, so another injury to start this season is a bummer for Greene. He went 7-4 and struck out 132 batters over 107 2/3 innings last year.

Greene is a highly-regarded pitcher, and is a good fantasy asset when out there. Him missing half of the season, or more, is definitely a blow to his fantasy outlook.

Greene is the 36th player on the average draft position list, going around pick 41.75 right now. He will definitely drop after this injury news.

If your fantasy league has an injured reserve spot, drafting Greene at a later draft slot and then stashing him on an IR spot is a smart idea in my eyes. Greene is definitely a risk to roster, but if he stays healthy after that, he could be a major fantasy asset.

In the real world, this slows the trajectory Greene was on. With a history of injuries, we just have to hope this is the last bigger injury of his career.

The Reds take a massive blow without their ace. Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo, Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns are the projected starting rotation now. It's still a good rotation, but it lacks an ace.

Greene's injury opens the door for other starting pitchers to help out before Greene comes back to the mix. Chase Petty, Julian Aguiar, Brandon Williamson and Jose Franco are other starting pitchers on the 40-man roster.

It wouldn't be surprising to see the Reds go out and add a free agent starting pitcher after the Greene injury news. They could use another depth arm in the meantime.

Lindor and Carroll Updates

Francisco Lindor and Corbin Carroll are each dealing with hamate injuries. 

Lindor is on track to be ready for opening day, but general manager David Stearns says he will need to play this spring - he won't be in real games first if they are regular season ones.

Carroll took batting practice a couple times of late, and is also tracking to play on opening day.

Lindor is going around pick 25 right now, while Carroll is at near pick 12, so both are major fantasy assets. The fact that they are trending toward being ready for the start of the season is a great thing.

However, I don't think their ADPs should rise, and I'd be happier to take them after their current ADPs.

This kind of injury can sap up the power of an MLB hitter, and that could decrease the fantasy value of each player. There's a chance each hitter starts the season a bit slower.

They are both talented enough to overcome an injury like this, and each could still be great fantasy assets while being a bit limited. They are just riskier picks coming off the injury, because we don't know exactly how they will be affected by it.

If you aren't willing to take a risk on either player, then I'd only consider drafting them a handful of picks after their ADPs. The payoff could be massive if they show no effects of the injury, but it's such an early pick, so it could also derail your fantasy season if they struggle to live up to that pick value.

We'll continue to keep you updated on these two, but I'd advise everyone to proceed cautiously with Carroll and Lindor.

Priester Falling Behind

Quinn Priester, who excelled after being traded to the Brewers last year, is dealing with right wrist soreness. He dealt with that last year too, so it's definitely concerning.

The team is considering sending Priester to a specialist for the issue. He's trending toward missing the start of the season, and potentially a lot more if the issue keeps lingering.

The 25-year-old pitched to a 3.32 ERA over 29 appearances (24 starts) and 157 1/3 innings. Priester was 13-3 and struck out 132 batters along the way.

Priester is going around pick 273 on average, so he's a deep-league asset to start the season. If the injury slows his debut to the season, his draft stock will be even lower. He could be a nice asset to stash on the IR, just in case he's able to replicate his numbers from last year.

The Brewers have more than enough pitchers to fill out the rotation in the meantime, but without Priester, they will definitely be hurting a bit.

Brandon Woodruff (who also could miss the start of the season), Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, Kyle Harrison and Brandon Sproat are the projected members of the rotation right now. DL Hall is another option, and Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser, Coleman Crow, Carlos Rodriguez and Shane Drohan are other options on the 40-man roster.

We'll keep tabs on Priester and adjust our outlook as we get more updates on him. Hopefully, things trend in a positive direction for Priester.