Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Giancarlo Stanton is likely headed to the injured list. Ughh !
The Yankees slugger was removed from the Yankees' second game on Saturday with left hamstring tightness and is set to have an MRI. Manager Aaron Boone said after the game that Stanton will also have another dreaded IL stint after spending most of 2019 on the mend due to multiple injuries.
It’s the latest point of frustration for Stanton, and particularly a blow for the Yankees with the slugger off to a hot start this season. We won’t know until at least later today how much time Stanton will miss, but if his series of injuries and setbacks from last year are any indication, it could be a while.
The good news for Yankees fans and fantasy managers is that the team has many alternatives. Mike Ford replaced Stanton during Saturday’s game, but now would seem to be the perfect opportunity for Miguel Andujar to get another shot. Andujar was demoted two days earlier due to lack of opportunity, with only 14 at-bats and five appearances in the first two weeks. Still, he’s a proven hitter, as shown in his breakout 2018 season when he hit .297-27-92 before sitting out most of 2019 due to a shoulder injury.
Andujar is an intriguing middle of the order possibility, but that’s of little solace for fantasy managers who were finally starting to see Stanton gain some momentum, launching his third home run of the year during the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
The state of MLB closers has never been more frustrating for fantasy managers than in the early 2020 season. We are at least beginning to see some clarity with two situations that were up in the air as recently as a few days ago.
Just off the injured list on Friday, Rafael Montero has been given back-to-back save opportunities and converted for the Rangers. This time the former top Mets prospect was the fifth reliever in the game, pitching a perfect ninth inning to seal a 2-0 victory over the Angels.
Despite battling elbow tendinitis to start the year, Montero’s velocity has been just fine, though it could be telling that he’s yet to unleash his slider, which he threw 14 percent of the time in 2019. Fantasy managers can have no qualms with the performance so far after Montero had a 2.48 ERA and 6.80 K/BB ratio in 29 innings with Texas last year.
The Royals also look like they’ve settled on a closer. Mike Matheny gave Trevor Rosenthal the save chance for the second day in a row, and he was able to tally his third save of the year by throwing 1.1 innings with three strikeouts.
Rosenthal was notably the Cardinals closer for part of the time Matheny managed in St. Louis, so it should come as no surprise that Matheny would turn back to the hard-throwing Rosenthal. After showing almost no control in his return from Tommy John surgery in 2019, Rosenthal is back on track this year and has yet to issue a walk with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. The 30-year-old is also continuing to throw gas, averaging 98 mph on his fastball.
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