Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Every fantasy baseball season there are hundreds of players that end up on the DL and every year there are hundreds of owners that start to panic. This has been one of the most devastating seasons as far as injuries go, though, so naturally fans have become a little more flustered than normal.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, for instance, have placed 18 players on the DL alone this year. They were stacked with All-Stars before the season began, but have since seen player after player head to the trainer. Many fantasy owners drafted these stars very early this spring, only to see them sitting on the sidelines for weeks at a time.
However, just because you have a couple players on the DL, doesn’t mean you should panic or starting cashing in your healthy guys for draft picks next season. Injuries are a part of the game and the fantasy season is so long that minor injuries are easy to get over.
Additionally, some DL moves can be retroactive. If a player is placed on the 15-day DL, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he will miss exactly 15 days. Most times organizations are allowed to count games that the player missed due to injuries into their stint on the DL, which only helps the player get back into your fantasy lineup quicker.
The only thing that really matters is that your best players are healthy for the final weeks of the season. You could have an All-Star on the shelf for three months, but he could end up having amazing value if he heats up during the fantasy playoffs. After all, a fantasy championship makes you forget a lot of things, including which players haunted you all season by sitting on the DL.
The bottom line is to not panic when one of your superstars, or dare I say first round picks, is placed on the shelf for a couple weeks. It happens to every team, some more than others, but it is still nothing to panic over. Most players will return from the DL shortly and get right back to putting up reliable numbers.
We have all heard the expression, “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” Well, if you have a guy on the DL right now, just remain patient with him and hit the waiver wire hard.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
