Fantasy Baseball Injuries - Week 21: Walker Buehler & Julio Rodriguez
UPDATED 8/16 @ 8:41am ET
The Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles were dealt tough blows to their respective starting rotations, as Joe Ryan and Grayson Rodriguez both hit the injured list with strains of the teres major muscle.
The Texas Rangers are sending Max Scherzer for further evaluation, and the Dodgers are hoping that Walker Buehler’s return to the rotation will yield more positive results than earlier this season. Also, fantasy baseball managers are thrilled to be getting Mookie Betts back this week!
As you prepare to finalize your fantasy baseball lineups for the upcoming week, don’t forget to take a look at the MLB injuries below, along with Howard Bender’s piece on the best waiver wire pickups.
Later this week, Matt Selz and I will discuss additional waiver wire options and weekend streaming choices on Caught Stealing, so make sure to catch that as well! Now, let’s jump right into this week’s fantasy baseball injury report!
MLB Injury Report: Starting Pitchers
Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins - Shoulder
A Grade 2 strain of his right teres major muscle could cost Ryan the rest of the 2024 campaign. He was placed on the IL, but there is a chance he doesn’t pitch again in 2024.
Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles - Shoulder
It’s a mild teres major strain for Rodriguez. The team is hopeful he can return to action next month, and they also said more imaging will be done on his shoulder in about three weeks.
Zac Gallen, Arizona Diamondbacks - Groin
While Gallen was forced to leave his last start early, he did avoid major injury. It was reportedly just cramping in his right groin, and the expectation is that his next start will be unimpacted.
Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers - Shoulder
Scherzer’s shoulder hasn’t bounced back like many expected, and the team is sending him to be re-evaluated.
James Paxton, Boston Red Sox - Calf
UPDATED 8/16: Paxton has a partially torn calf, so his 2024 season may be over.
Paxton was removed from his most recent start with a strain in his right calf.
Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers - Side
ADDED 8/16: There was some concern that Eovaldi's second start this week could be in jeopardy, but from the sounds of it, he'll be fine for this weekend's start. He was removed from his last start due to tightness in his right side.
MLB Injury Report: Relief Pitchers
Hunter Harvey, Kansas City Royals - Back
Some tightness in Harvey’s back has caused the team to place him on the IL.
MLB Injury Report: Hitters
Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners - Ankle
UPDATED 8/16: It looked like Rodriguez was back and ready to go, but he tweaked his ankle in the middle of the week. It doesn't seem like an IL stint is likely, but he might miss a couple games.
While Rodriguez is back and playing, he’s expected to serve as the team’s DH and not play in the outfield for the foreseeable future.
Jazz Chisholm, New York Yankees - UCL
ADDED 8/16: Chisholm will head to the injured list with an injury to left UCL. Surgery has not yet been ruled out, but the midseason acquisition for the Yankees could be set to miss a good chunk of time.
Triston Casas, Boston Red Sox - Rib
The team stated that Casas will be activated prior to August 20.
Jorge Soler, Atlanta Braves - Hamstring
ADDED 8/16: Hamstring strains can be tricky, but the belief is that Soler can avoid a trip to the injured list. An MRI revealed a mild hamstring strain for the veteran slugger.
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins - Hip
ADDED 8/16: Buxton had some discomfort in his right hip earlier in the week, and despite the MRI coming back clean, the team opted to place him on the 10-day injured list. The team expects his stint on the IL to be close to the minimum 10 days, if not the bare minimum.
Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks - Ankle
UPDATED 8/16: This ankle sprain has lingered a bit for Marte. The team doesn't expect him to place him on the IL, but he hasn't played since August 12 (Monday).
Marte left Saturday’s game with an ankle contusion and is day-to-day. It doesn’t sound like this will keep out of the lineup for more than a day or two, if at all.
Brooks Lee, Minnesota Twins - Biceps
Lee was placed on the IL with tendonitis in his right biceps.
Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers - Oblique
ADDED 8/16: Muncy might be returning to the Dodgers as early as Monday of next week! He hasn't played since May 15th, and he's opened up his rehab stint by going 4-for-13 with a .385 SLG and a 4:2 K/BB ratio.
Player News
Twins placed OF Matt Wallner on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 16, with a left hamstring strain.
As anticipated, Wallner lands on the injured list after injuring his hamstring during Tuesday’s ballgame. There’s still no word on the severity of the strain or how much time Wallner stands to miss. Jonah Bride — who was acquired from the Marlins — was added to the Twins’ roster in a corresponding move on Thursday.
Wyatt Langford (oblique) will begin a minor league rehab assignment at Double-A Frisco on Thursday.
The 23-year-old budding superstar will serve as the designated hitter on Thursday night before easing his way back into the outfield. Langford wanted to skip the rehab assignment altogether, so as long as he shows that he’s ready to go, there’s a chance that the Rangers could bring him back at some point during their weekend series against the Dodgers.
Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs on Thursday afternoon, propelling the Phillies to a 6-4 victory over the visiting Giants.
Schwarber got the Phillies on the board with a go-ahead two-run single off of Jordan Hicks and then scored on a wild pitch as part of a five-run opening inning. He also reached on an infield single in the fifth inning but was left stranded there. The 32-year-old slugger is off to a strong start to the 2025 campaign, slashing .284/.435/.597 with six homers, 14 RBI and a stolen base in his first 85 plate appearances.
José Alvarado notched his fourth save of the season on Thursday, protecting a two-run advantage in the ninth inning against the Giants.
The 29-year-old left-hander came on with a three-run lead to protect, but things got a bit closer as he served up a one-out solo homer to Tyler Fitzgerald. After getting Wilmer Flores on a ground ball to shortstop, Alvarado walked Jung Hoo Lee to bring the tying run to the plate before retiring Christian Koss on a fielder’s choice to end it. He appears to be locked in as the preferred ninth inning option for manager Rob Thomson and should continue to provide plenty of fantasy value for as long as he remains healthy and stationed there.
Cristopher Sanchez picked up his second victory of the season on Thursday, racking up a season-high 12 strikeouts over seven innings against the Giants.
The 28-year-old southpaw allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and one walk. The Giants scratched out a run against him in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by Matt Chapman. Sanchez then served up a two-run homer to Chapman in the sixth after Heliot Ramos had reached on an error. He got a whopping 24 swings and misses on 97 pitches in the ballgame — 22 of those on his changeup alone — while posting an elite CSW of 40 percent. Now 2-0 on the season, Sanchez will carry a 2.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and a 31/6 K/BB ratio (24 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s showdown against the Mets in New York.
Matt Chapman went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI on Thursday, accounting for most of the Giants’ offense in a losing effort against the Phillies.
Chapman got the Giants on the board first with an RBI single off of Cristopher Sanchez in the opening inning. He then tagged him for a 372-foot (100.6 mph EV) two-run shot in the sixth inning that pulled the Giants to within two runs at 5-3. That would be as close as they would get. With his two-hit attack, the 31-year-old third baseman is now hitting .239/.386/.418 with three homers, 12 RBI and two stolen bases through his first 19 games.