The much-anticipated return of Noah Syndergaard last night will likely overshadow any other injury news heading into the weekend but we’ll give it a shot anyways! Over the past few days we’ve seen three big time pitchers get diagnosed with or are dealing with injuries in Garrett Richards , Corey Kluber and James Paxton . We’ve also learned that several hitters are dealing with injuries as well. On the flip side, some good news has now come out about a couple players on the mend. Below, we’ll cover all of those situations giving you a jump start on your second half plans and roster decisions. Let’s dig in!

Steve Pearce (OF-BOS)

In Thursday night’s game versus the Toronto Blue Jays, newly acquired slugger Steve Pearce was hit on the lower leg in his very first at bat of the game on a full count pitch from J.A. Happ . While he has no structural damage of any kind, he was forced to leave the game after the first inning ended after trying to run the bases. He was held out of yesterday’s lineup as well and it remains to be seen how much time Pearce will miss moving forward. Since June 29th, when the Red Sox acquired Pearce, he’s slashing .458/.500/.750 in 28 plate appearances so you could say its working out for all parties involved. Since joining the loaded Boston lineup he’s also hit leadoff once, third once and cleanup seven times. Those numbers combined with that premium spot in the batting order make him a must add in most formats. Oh and he’s 5.7% owned in ESPN leagues.

Avisail García (OF-CHW)

The White Sox slugger is having some issues with the hammy this season. Missing 55 games earlier in the season with the injury and then coming back and re-injuring it is difficult to deal with mentally just as much as it is physically. This time it seems it wasn’t as bad so there is a reason to be optimistic about a smooth recovery. Garcia is expected to return for the beginning of the second half and the team is probably hoping to get him healthy and showcased a little more with the possibility of the team further bolstering their farm system by trading Garcia for prospects. While he has missed a ton of games in 2018, he’s still mashing the baseball. Batting .282 with nine home runs and 17 runs batted in after only playing in 35 games shows the 27 year old is as good in the box as they come and could be a very nice piece for a contender. Any talks of moving him however, wont come until he’s fully healthy. Things are headed in the right direction as far as his health goes.

Rafael Devers (3B-BOS)

Boston’s young third baseman Rafael Devers is dealing with a left shoulder injury labeled as inflammation. Devers said that it has been bothering him for almost a month and as concerned as most of us were when we heard he was being placed on the DL, an MRI revealed no structural damage. He’s eligible to return to the field for Boston’s second game out of the break versus the Detroit Tigers on July 21st and it looks like that is the expectation. Devers has been struggling as of late, possibly due to this injury, to a tune of .252/.295/.435 since June 1st. While that may be the reason for his recent struggles, he’s been a disappointment from what we saw last season but he’s only 21 years old and has huge upside in this lineup. A second half turnaround would do wonders for both the Red Sox and his fantasy owners in 2018.

Justin Turner (3B-LAD)

Another injury at the hot corner puts Justin Turner ’s status in question finishing out the first half. In a pinch hit appearance, Turner had his left adductor tighten up on him running to first base on a ground out. Recent news reports say that Turner actually had it happen Wednesday but Turner was feeling okay and thus, available off the bench on Thursday. The severity of the injury is not yet public knowledge and its likely that the Dodgers hold him out for the remainder of the half. Keep an eye on him over the next several days to look for any further updates. Turner dealt with a wrist injury early in the season as well which may explain his pedestrian numbers of .258/.354/.393. Getting his health back and quickly getting into a groove at the plate will be essential to getting any value from him in the second half of the season.

Mike Zunino (C-SEA)

Seattle’s big bopping catcher is doing some minor baseball activities but hasn’t yet begun running on his injured ankle. Listed as a bone bruise, the injury seems to be minor and one that shouldn’t keep him out much longer. It expected that Zunino will be returning to the team to begin the second half barring any setbacks. Zunino is really struggling to find any sort of consistency at the plate other than strikeouts, those are extremely consistent at 38.8%. If we’re being optimistic, we could look at his 12 home runs and 29 runs batted in and see some upside in that. A .251 OBP pretty much shoots that down however.

Carlos Correa (SS-HOU)

Carlos makes the list once again as he makes his way back to the team from his back injury. If you’ve read the last couple injury reports here at Fantasy Alarm you wont be surprised by this but Correa wont return until after the All-Star break. He’s been slowly resuming baseball activities over the last few days and we should get more concrete details about when he’s expected to play again as the week progresses. Correa as previously mentioned is having a down year based on the ridiculous numbers he’s put up in his young career. He’s one of, if not the best short stop in the game when healthy and Houston is loaded and ready for the opportunity to repeat so you can expect that when he does in fact return to the field, he’ll be locked in and ready to help this Astros team.  

Corey Kluber (SP-CLE)

There is three major pitching situations to check in on and it begins with the best of them, Corey Kluber . One of the games’ most dominant pitchers suddenly has a knee issue that he’s recently received an injection in and while it’s not considered serious its worth monitoring. He required a heavy investment on draft day so this has to be a scary revelation for his fantasy owners. Take a deep breath guys, as of right now he’s just going to get some rest and try to be the best he can for the Indians in the second half. A pitcher who is certainly in the conversation for the Cy Young award at 32 years old, Kluber has maintained an outstanding 22.5% K-BB% and a 3.04 xFIP.

James Paxton (SP-SEA)

Back stiffness takes another victim as Mariners ace James Paxton was put on the disabled list Friday. Paxton is expected to take his normal turn in the rotation following the All Star break against the San Fransisco Giants. This expectation suggests that the injury isn’t all that serious and his removal from Thursday’s start was strictly precautionary. Here’s to hoping as Paxton is having a great year for Seattle with his 3.02 xFIP and 25.4% K-BB%. Paxton’s biggest downfall this season has been his career high 1.21 HR/9 translating into 16 home runs allowed in only 20 starts. His previous career high was 10 home runs allowed in an entire season so that’s something of definite concern moving forward.

Garrett Richards (SP-LAA)

The rapper Drake once said, “Oh man oh man, oh man not again”. Yes Drake, it has in fact happened AGAIN. Angels flamethrower Garrett Richards has added another injury to his resume after damaging his UCL. This injury will require Tommy John surgery and he will be out until the 2020 season. This is a terrible outcome for a guy in a contract year looking to land a big deal this upcoming off season. Needless to say he wont be fortunate enough to do that so he will need to rehab quickly and get back in the big leagues and land some sort of one year deal to give himself another shot. Richards had been pitching very well this season with a 26.9% K-rate and 3.58 xFIP. His detractor being that he’s continued to be erratic. His 10.5% walk rate puts him around guys like Jake Odorizzi and Reynaldo López so there’s obviously room for improvement in that category but we’re a long way from having to worry about that. The worry should be whether or not a 30+ year old pitcher who relies on velocity can recover from a huge surgery on his elbow.