Fantasy baseball impact of Eloy Jimenez’s injury

The Chicago White Sox have placed OF Eloy Jimenez on the 10-day IL with a low-grade hamstring strain. The initial estimation is that Jimenez will miss two to three weeks, per James Fegan, which will come as a significant blow to fantasy owners. While Jimenez comes with checkered injury history, a big spring pushed his ADP into the middle rounds of drafts, with owners banking on him as a major source of power.

Fantasy impact

When it comes to replacing Jimenez, try and stash him on an available IL spot. He is only supposed to be sidelined for the majority of April, so it isn’t worth outright dropping him. When looking for a replacement off the waiver wire, you have some options. If you want to pick up an outfielder to replace Jimenez’s position in the lineup, Ian Happ, Adam Duvall, Charlie Blackmon and Austin Hays are all solid outfield options. Happ is rostered in 59.3% of ESPN leagues, Duvall in 56.5%, Blackmon in 36.2% and Hays only in 27.9% of leagues. (For deeper leagues, consider Twins outfielder Trevor Larnach, who’s gotten off to a hot start that’s vaulted him into the middle of Minnesota’s order.)

If you aren’t worried about the outfield positional availability, SS Nico Hoerner (47%), C Travis d’Arnaud (30.6%), 3B Yoan Moncada (25%) and 2B Nolan Gorman are several options. Moncada is an interesting name because the injury to Jimenez likely means that he will be moving up in the Chicago batting order. The White Sox recalled Jake Burger to fill Jimenez’s roster spot, but that doesn’t mean he is waltzing into fantasy relevancy.