Fantasy Baseball Injury Report - Week 25: Jacob deGrom & Max Scherzer
UPDATED 9/13 @ 8:41am ET
In this week’s MLB Injury Report, the Texas Rangers come away sizable winners, as they are expected to add Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer to the big-league rotation this week. Heading to the American League East, the Toronto Blue Jays could be getting fantasy baseball bust Bo Bichette back in the fold in the later part of the week.
Meanwhile, the fantasy baseball injury report also includes bad news with the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Jeffrey Springs landing on the IL. Yes, fantasy football is in full swing with all of the Week 1 action, and preparing for Week 2, but the fantasy baseball playoffs are here, and your league’s title could be in reach! Other notable names in the fantasy baseball injury report this week are Whit Merrifield, Luis Castillo, Teoscar Hernandez, and Brenton Doyle.
Fantasy Baseball Injury Report This Week
As you get ready to set your fantasy baseball lineups for the week ahead, be sure to check out the fantasy baseball injury report below. Later this week, Matt Selz and I will break down some more waiver wire pickups and weekend streamers on Caught Stealing, likely touching on the MLB injury report, so tune in there, too!
Continue reading for everything you need to know about the biggest injuries affecting the fantasy baseball landscape!
MLB Injury Report - Starting Pitchers
Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers - Elbow
deGrom is expected to make his season and team debut on Friday against the Mariners.
Max Scherzer, Texas Rangers - Shoulder
The expectation is that Scherzer will be activated from the IL and start on Saturday against Seattle.
Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners - Hamstring
UPDATED 9/13: Castillo was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain earlier in the week.
Castillo was removed early from his start on Sunday with a hamstring issue.
Gavin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers - Shoulder
Stone was placed on the IL with inflammation in his right shoulder. He had a solid month of August, going 2- with a 4.13 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 34:7 K/BB ratio over 32.2 IP.
Jeffrey Springs, Tampa Bay Rays - Elbow
Springs worked his way back from Tommy John surgery, and was able to make seven starts for the Rays, but he was recently placed on the IL with what is being called “elbow fatigue.”
Lance Lynn, St. Louis Cardinals - Knee
Lynn will be activated from the IL and start on Wednesday for the Cardinals. This will be his first start since July 30th, and in his lone rehab start, he allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out eight in 3.2 IP.
Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves - Shoulder
ADDED 9/13: Lopez was removed early from his most recent start, and was subsequently placed on the injured list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder.
Merrill Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks - Hamstring
ADDED 9/13: Kelly was pulled from his last start due to a hamstring cramp. Since it's just a cramp, I wouldn't expect his next start to be in jeopardy.
Alex Cobb, Cleveland Guardians - Finger/Hand
ADDED 9/13: Cobb was placed on the IL with a blister on his pitching hand. He's made just three starts for the Guardians this year, posting a 2.76 ERA and 1.04 WHIP across 16.1 IP.
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MLB Injury Report - Hitters
Corey Seager, Texas Rangers - Hernia
ADDED 9/13: Seager will the rest of the season with a sports hernia.
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros - Side
ADDED 9/13: Altuve has not played since exiting Wednesday's game early with discomfort on his right side.
Whit Merrifield, Atlanta Braves - Foot
Merrifield has a fracture in his foot, but the hope is that he won’t miss too much time, despite an initial report of it being a multi-week absence.
Jonathan India, Cincinnati Reds - Elbow
UPDATED 9/13: India has returned to action.
India was removed from Sunday’s game with left elbow discomfort, and the below clip was his last swing before being removed from action.
Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays - Calf
UPDATED 9/13: Toronto believes they should get Bichette back at some point during next week's series against the Rangers.
Bichette is expected to head out on a rehab assignment early this week. The Toronto shortstop has been one of the more notable fantasy baseball busts this season.
Alec Bohm, Philadelphia Phillies - Hand
UPDATED 9/13: The hope is that Bohm can return at some point over the weekend.
Bohm hit the IL a couple of days ago with a hand strain.
J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies - Knee
UPDATED 9/13: The Phillies are hoping to have Realmuto back in the lineup at some point over the weekend.
Realmuto banged up his knee on Friday, and was not in the lineup on Saturday and Sunday. He’s considered day-to-day at this juncture.
Jo Adell, Los Angeles Angels - Oblique
Adell’s season is likely done, as he was placed on the IL with an oblique strain. He hit just .207 with an 89 wRC+, but he hit 20 home runs and stole 15 bases (10 CS) across 130 games in 2024.
Jeff McNeil, New York Mets - Wrist
McNeil will miss the remainder of the regular season with a wrist fracture. His regular season comes to an end with a .238/.308/.692 slash line, 12 home runs, and 44 RBI across 129 games.
Has your fantasy baseball season come to an end? Check out all of our MLB DFS content down the stretch of the MLB regular season!
Player News
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of EL Extrabase reports that the Rangers are promoting outfield prospect Alejandro Osuna before Sunday’s game against the White Sox.
Osuna will need to be added to the 40-man roster in order for the promotion to happen. The 22-year-old is one of the top hitting prospects in the Texas system, and is slashing .279/.386/.414 with two homers and nine stolen bases in his time with Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock. Osuna offers some long-term upside because of his speed and potential hit tool, but would be a risky fantasy add in the majority of redraft formats.
Aaron Nola (ankle) is still dealing with soreness in his right ankle.
“No bullpen today,” Phillies manager Rich Thomson said in regards to Nola. “He was still a little sore today. It’s day by day. We’ll see if he’s OK tomorrow,” The team was hopeful he could throw a bullpen before one of the three games against the A’s, but it doesn’t appear that’s likely to happen now. Nola seems very unlikely to return to the Philadelphia rotation before the end of May, and this could push into the middle of June.
Junior Caminero hit a three-run homer in the first inning Saturday, and the Rays made it stand up in a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
With one out in the first, Jose Lowe walked, Brandon Lowe singled and Caminero took a pitch 387 feet out to left-center. That Rays had just one hit and one walk over the remainder of the contest, but the Jays never caught up. The homer was Caminero’s ninth, and it gave him his first RBI in 11 days. He’s hit just .208/.232/.358 over his last 27 games, but things still figure to get better here.
Shane Baz held the Blue Jays to one run in 5 2/3 innings in a win Saturday.
The lone run came on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s homer in the sixth. Baz allowed four hits, walked three and struck out four. He’s totaled 16 strikeouts and seven homers allowed in 25 1/3 innings this month, which just isn’t very encouraging. Still, he got a win tonight, his first since Apr. 25.
Pete Fairbanks worked around two walks in a hitless ninth to pick up his 10th save on Saturday.
We figured the Rays would hold the injury-prone Fairbanks out tonight after he worked three of the previous four days, but we were incorrect. It seems like they’re playing with fire here, given that, at 22 innings, Fairbanks is already pretty much halfway to his career high of 45 1/3. Fairbanks will sit Sunday, which could open the door for Edwin Uceta to pick up a save.
José Berríos pitched six innings and allowed three runs Saturday in a loss to the Rays.
Berríos hasn’t been dominant at any point, but this is his sixth quality start to go along with a pair of other nice outings in which he didn’t quite complete six innings. He should have at least four or five wins. Instead, due to a lack of offense and the bullpen blowing leads for him on three occasions, he’s 1-2 with a 4.22 ERA. He’ll face the A’s next.