Just about two weeks into Spring training, there have been a few new injuries that will bleed into Opening Day and effect the early part of the fantasy baseball season. By missing Opening Day, the draft values of the injured players will be suppressed and those of their fill-ins will increase. Here are four injured players and the players to watch that are beneficiaries of the injuries.
- Moises Alou: Out 4-6 weeks with a hernia, he has opened the door for Angel Pagan to grab more ABs. Pagan has been productive in limited action over the past couple seasons with HR and SB. At 26-years-old this could be the impetuts for a mini "breakout" season.
- Jim Edmonds: Out 2-3 weeks with a calf injury, he has opened the door for Scott Hairston and Chase Headley to get more ABs in the early part of April. Both OF are quality sleepers with Hairston the slight favorite to surprise on the upside given the expected Rookie-of-the-Year hype that will surround Headley.
- Andy LaRoche: Out 8-12 weeks with a thumb injury, he allows Joe Torre to start veteran Nomar Garciaparra without peanut-gallery complaining from the more-statistically astute baseball commentariat. Tony Abreu could get ABs if Nomar can't remain healthy until the end of May. Only very deep NL-Only league need even bother themselves with knowing who Abreu is.
- Noah Lowry: Out 2-4 weeks with a lower arm injury, he opens the door for LHP Jonathan Sanchez to make a couple starts from the five-hole. He struck out 62 in 52 major league innings last season and has a career minor league K/9 ratio of 11.88. He is definitely one to watch.