Fantasy Baseball Injury News: Christian Yelich the Latest Big Name to Hit IL

We just went over some MLB injury news yesterday, and already have enough to do another article here.

We'll discuss the real-world and fantasy baseball implications of the injuries we discuss. Let's get right to it!

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

Christian Yelich - Milwaukee Brewers

Yelich is the big name in today's story. He was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday because of a left groin strain. Yeli is expected to be out until at least mid-May.

It's a bummer for his fantasy owners, as Yelich was off to a hot start in 2026. Across 15 games and 56 plate appearances, Yeli had a .314 average and .375 on-base percentage.

Yelich has two doubles, a triple and a homer among his 16 total knocks. He also has posted 10 RBIs, 10 runs scored, three stolen bases, five walks and 14 strikeouts.

He was pretty healthy in 2025 as well, only missing 12 games over the course of a 162-game season. Yelich dealt with injuries on and off over the three years before that, and now he will be out several weeks in 2026.

Yelich is one to keep holding in fantasy baseball leagues, but if your IR spots are thin, you might eventually need to drop him. He is an outfielder, and there's plenty of those available, so while dropping him would hurt, there's at least options out there to help fill the void.

If anything, I'd look to trade Yelich away, before outright dropping him. The return won't be great, as you're selling him low, but the return should be better than what you'll find on the waiver wire.

Yelich joins a growing list of injured Brewers, including hitters Andrew Vaughn and Jackson Chourio. It's led to a lot of sparsely-owned fantasy players getting plenty of at-bats, and that will continue without Yelich around. He usually was the team's designated hitter, but also played some left field.

Greg Jones was called up in a corresponding move for Milwaukee. He'll be an option in the outfield, and maybe even the infield, especially if he is hot at the plate. Others to watch in the outfield are Garrett Mitchell, Blake Perkins, Jake Bauers, Luis Matos and Brandon Lockridge.

Being Yelich was a DH most often, anyone could fill that spot. Gary Sanchez might be worth adding in some fantasy leagues, as he might get a lot of DH starts, and has been hitting pretty well in 2026.

It's a situation to monitor daily, so check the waiver wire list and articles we do here.

Merrill Kelly - Arizona Diamondbacks

Kelly is coming off the injured list, and is scheduled to start on Tuesday against Baltimore. He's been out all season.

The 37-year-old righty pitched for Arizona and Texas last season, posting a 3.52 earned run average over 32 starts. He struck out 167 batters over 184 innings, while posting a 12-9 record.

He's been a pretty good fantasy pitcher over his career, and is already worth adding in a good amount of leagues. Kelly is owned in 70% of leagues already, and could rise to 100% quickly if he starts the season strong.

If you aren't willing to stream him fresh off the IL, be ready to pounce quickly, as a strong start tonight might be all it takes for him to be picked up in all leagues.

Jackson Holliday - Baltimore Orioles

The last player I want to hit on is Holliday, who is currently on the 10-day injured list for Baltimore. He was pulled off his rehab assignment.

Holliday was working his way back from hand surgery in mid-February. He had the fractured hook of his hamate bone removed. Holliday is dealing with right wrist soreness, so it's still bothering him.

Holliday had been playing at Triple-A as he was ramping up for his MLB return. In 11 games and over 46 plate appearances, he had a .167 average and .239 OBP. He had two doubles among his seven knocks, along with three RBIs, one run scored and stolen base, three walks and 12 punchouts.

Those numbers leave a lot to be desired, but it's the soreness that led to the team shutting him down. There's no timetable for his return, but he'll need more rehab games before being ready, so it'll be a bit yet.

In the meantime, expect Jeremiah Jackson to keep getting starts. He was part of today's waiver wire story, and now can be added in more leagues knowing that Holliday is out a bit longer.

We'll keep tabs on the situation and let you know when to activate Holliday, and maybe move off Jackson.