The 2024 Fantasy baseball season starts in just a few days, but we're still waiting for teams to put the finishing touches on their Opening Day rosters. And a big part of that for Fantasy Baseball players is figuring out who is going on the injured list to open the season and who isn't. Because, if you play in a league with IL spots, you're kind of hamstrung when it comes to making roster moves until guys are officially placed on the IL -- why drop someone you don't need to drop when you know you'll have a roster space available in a few days.
As of the writing of this column Monday afternoon, we're still in wait-and-see mode for how teams are going to approach their injured players to open the season, so we're forced to make some assumptions when it comes to ranking IL stashes. But, before we get to that, here's a quick list of players who dealt with injuries this spring who I'm not expecting to open the season on the IL:
- Aaron Judge -- Abdominal tightness
- Corey Seager -- Sports hernia surgery
- Kevin Gausman -- Shoulder soreness
- David Bednar -- Lat
- Josh Jung -- Calf
- Kenley Jansen -- Back/lat
- Cedric Mullins -- Hamstring
- Jonathan India -- Foot
- Anthony Rizzo -- Lat
- J.P. France -- Shoulder inflammation
- Luis Rengifo -- Hamstring tightness
- Jeff McNeil -- Biceps discomfort
- Keaton Winn -- Elbow soreness
And now, here's a list of the top IL stashes to open the season, from players you must stash to those who are a total luxury if you have the IL spots to play with, with a tip of the cap to FanGraphs and Roster Resource's Injury Report:
Too valuable to drop, period
| 1 | 
Joshua Lowe
Tampa Bay Rays RF
|
| Strained oblique -- Lowe suffered a hip injury early in the spring and then the oblique injury. He has no official timetable at this point. | |
| 2 | 
Jordan Romano
Toronto Blue Jays RP
|
| Elbow inflammation -- Romano has no structural damage, but he and Erik Swanson are opening on the IL. Yimi Garcia could get early save chances for the Blue Jays | |
| 3 | 
Justin Verlander
Houston Astros SP
|
| Shoulder soreness -- Verlander is expected to begin a rehab assignment during the first week of the season and might be just a few weeks away. | |
| 4 | 
Walker Buehler
Los Angeles Dodgers SP
|
| Tommy John surgery -- It's worth noting that Buehler isn't actually injured right now; the Dodgers are holding him back to conserve his innings coming off Tommy John surgery. He might be back in late April or early May. | |
| 5 | 
Sonny Gray
St. Louis Cardinals SP
|
| Strained hamstring -- Gray was projected to be the team's Opening Day starter, but now it looks like he'll miss the first couple of series of the season, though not much more than that. | |
| 6 | 
Gerrit Cole
New York Yankees SP
|
| Elbow discomfort -- Cole is a candidate for the 60-day IL and seems unlikely to return until June, but he also has no structural damage in his elbow ligaments, so hopefully it's not too much later. | |
| 7 | 
Kodai Senga
New York Mets SP
|
| Strained shoulder -- Senga is expected to begin throwing this week and could be back by mid-May if he avoids setbacks. | |
| 8 | 
Eury Perez
Miami Marlins SP
|
| Elbow inflammation -- Perez played catch twice over the weekend without issue and has no structural damage in his right elbow, per the team. The hope here is he can return in May. | |
| 9 | 
Jhoan Duran
Minnesota Twins RP
|
| Strained oblique -- Duran is opening the season on the IL, and pitchers with "moderate" oblique strains missed 47 days on average last season, so a late-April return seems reasonable. Brock Stewart and Griffin Jax are the best candidates to replace him. | |
| 10 | 
Matt McLain
Cincinnati Reds SS
|
| Shoulder discomfort -- McLain is in Tier 1 for now, but we're still waiting to find out if he's going to need surgery. You could make a case that possibility should knock him to tier 2. | |
| 11 | 
Paul Sewald
Arizona Diamondbacks RP
|
| Oblique strain -- Sewald has a Grade 2 oblique strain, so we're probably looking at a similar timetable to Duran, with a week delay, roughly. I'd guess Kevin Ginkel is the first man up to replace him, though the Diamondbacks have refused to say as much. | |
Also really difficult to drop
| 1 | 
Tommy Edman
St. Louis Cardinals 2B
|
| Arthroscopic wrist surgery -- Edman's recovery from offseason wrist surgery just hasn't gone according to plan, and he remains without a timetable to return. | |
| 2 | 
Nick Lodolo
Cincinnati Reds SP
|
| Stress reaction in leg -- Lodolo isn't a sure thing, but he is expected to join the rotation April 10. | |
| 3 | 
Braxton Garrett
Miami Marlins SP
|
| Shoulder soreness -- Garrett is going to throw a bullpen session Tuesday and the hope is he'll pitch in a game for the first time Thursday. He might only miss a couple of weeks. | |
| 4 | 
Shane Baz
Tampa Bay Rays SP
|
| Tommy John surgery -- Like Buehler, Baz isn't actually hurt right now, the Rays are simply saving his innings. We don't know when he'll likely pitch in games, but it might be a couple of months. | |
| 5 | 
Gavin Williams
Cleveland Guardians SP
|
| Elbow discomfort -- Williams seems likely to miss a few weeks, but it might not be too much longer after no structural damage was found in his elbow. | |
| 6 | 
Bryan Woo
Seattle Mariners SP
|
| Elbow inflammation -- Woo hadn't pitched since March 14 before the announcement of his IL trip Monday, but there was also no sign of an injury prior to this. Emerson Hancock may be worth a look if the Mariners go with him as the replacement in the rotation; Ryne Stanek, less so. | |
Still a priority on some level
| 19 | 
Eduardo Rodriguez
Arizona Diamondbacks SP
|
| Strained lat -- Rodriguez has been shut down from throwing, but the hope is it won't be a long absence. He's a fine starting Fantasy option, but not a must-stash if you don't have an IL spot. | |
| 20 | 
Lars Nootbaar
St. Louis Cardinals CF
|
| Rib fractures -- It seems like a question of pain tolerance for when Nootbaar will be cleared, so we don't really have a timetable. | |
| 21 | 
Nate Lowe
Texas Rangers 1B
|
| Strained oblique -- Lowe is expected to be out until mid-April. I'm stashing where I can, but he's not such an impact bat that you have to. | |
| 22 | 
TJ Friedl
Cincinnati Reds CF
|
| Wrist fracture -- Friedl hopes to be cleared for game action six weeks, putting him on track for a mid-May return. | |
| 23 | 
Kyle Bradish
Baltimore Orioles SP
|
| Sprained elbow -- "We are really hoping to get [him] back early in the first half of the season." So, let's call it May? | |
| 24 | 
Max Scherzer
Texas Rangers SP
|
| Back surgery -- Scherzer was cleared for baseball activities last week and could be back by June. | |
| 25 | 
Emmet Sheehan
Los Angeles Dodgers SP
|
| Forearm inflammation -- The Dodgers spent all spring downplaying Sheehan's injury, only to reveal he's dealing with a forearm injury when they placed him on the IL. There's no timetable at this point. | |
| 26 | 
John Means
Baltimore Orioles SP
|
| Elbow soreness -- "We are really hoping to get [him] back early in the first half of the season." So, let's call it May? | |
| 27 | 
Robert Stephenson
Los Angeles Angels RP
|
| Shoulder soreness -- The injury hasn't been considered serious, but it's putting his attempt to usurp Carlos Estevez for the closer job on a delay, which gives Estevez time to further entrench himself. | |
| 28 | 
Devin Williams
Milwaukee Brewers RP
|
| Stress fracture in back -- Williams is expected to be out three months with this injury. The Brewers have plenty of viable options, and there's absolutely no consensus on who they're likely to use as the closer. I'm leaning in Joel Payamps ' direction, but Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill could both figure in as well. | |
| 29 | 
Edward Cabrera
Miami Marlins SP
|
| Shoulder impingement -- Cabrera is expected to pitch in a scrimmage this week and might be ready to return in a couple of weeks. I still like him as a sleeper when healthy. | |
| 30 | 
Vaughn Grissom
Boston Red Sox SS
|
| Strained groin -- Grissom could return to game action in 7-10 days, though he seems likely to require a rehab assignment before he plays in the majors, so let's say mid-April. | |
| 31 | 
Alex Cobb
San Francisco Giants SP
|
| Hip surgery -- Cobb might be back in just a few weeks, with his first game action expected to come this week. | |
| 32 | 
Wade Miley
Milwaukee Brewers SP
|
| Shoulder soreness -- Miley is going to throw a simulated game this week and could go on his Triple-A rehab assignment after that, putting a mid-April return on the table. | |
| 33 | 
Jasson Dominguez
New York Yankees CF
|
| Tommy John surgery -- Dominguez is hoping for a mid-season return, though it could come a little sooner than that if he avoids setbacks. | |
| 34 | 
Robbie Ray
San Francisco Giants SP
|
| Tommy John surgery -- Ray has already been throwing off a mound, and could be back around mid-season, if not a little earlier. | |
| 35 | 
Jeffrey Springs
Tampa Bay Rays SP
|
| Tommy John surgery -- Springs could be back around the midpoint of the season. | |
Stashing is purely a luxury
| 36 | 
Danny Jansen
Toronto Blue Jays C
|
| Fractured wrist | |
| 37 | 
Taj Bradley
Tampa Bay Rays SP
|
| Strained pec | |
| 38 | 
Matt Brash
Seattle Mariners RP
|
| Elbow inflammation | |
| 39 | 
Clayton Kershaw
Los Angeles Dodgers SP
|
| Shoulder surgery | |
| 40 | 
Brusdar Graterol
Los Angeles Dodgers RP
|
| Shoulder inflammation | |
| 41 | 
Jameson Taillon
Chicago Cubs SP
|
| Lower back | |
| 42 | 
DJ LeMahieu
New York Yankees 3B
|
| Bruised foot | |
| 43 | 
Orion Kerkering
Philadelphia Phillies RP
|
| Illness | |
| 44 | 
Taijuan Walker
Philadelphia Phillies SP
|
| Shoulder impingement | |
| 45 | 
Alek Manoah
Toronto Blue Jays SP
|
| Shoulder soreness | |
| 46 | 
Jose Urquidy
Houston Astros SP
|
| Strained forearm | |
| 47 | 
Lance McCullers
Houston Astros SP
|
| Elbow surgery | |
| 48 | 
Jonny DeLuca
Tampa Bay Rays LF
|
| Fractured hand | |
| 49 | 
Dustin May
Los Angeles Dodgers SP
|
| Tommy John surgery | |
| 50 | 
Jonathan Aranda
Tampa Bay Rays 1B
|
| Fractured finger | |
| 51 | 
Kris Bubic
Kansas City Royals SP
|
| Tommy John surgery | |
