The Houston Astros will face the Texas Rangers in their divisional series’ fourth and final game on Monday, April 8. The Astros were set to start ace Framber Valdez, but he felt pain in his elbow during warm-ups and has been scratched from the start. Rookie Blair Henley will make his major league debut in Valdez’s place.
Doctors will evaluate Valdez to determine how severe the injury is, and at this time, it is unclear if he will need a stint on the injured list. This is the latest in starting pitcher injuries from the last few days, joining Shane Bieber and Spencer Strider, who both are also dealing with elbow injuries. For the Astros, Valdez would leave a hole at the front of the rotation as veteran Justin Verlander is already on the IL with an injury of his own.
Valdez was set to make his third start of the season. Heading into Monday’s matchup against Texas, he was 0-0 with a 2.19 ERA after facing the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Astros are already off to a slow start with an overall 3-7 record, and losing Valdez for an extended period of time would be a big loss.
Fantasy Baseball impact
Valdez is rostered in 99.3% of ESPN leagues. Given the weekly matchup nature of fantasy baseball, he was scheduled to not only pitch on Monday night against Texas but is projected to face them again this coming Saturday for another opportunity to pick up fantasy points for your roster.
If your league settings allow you to place “out” players in an IL slot, you should do so. Monday games have started already, so if you pick up a pitcher from waivers, they likely won’t join your roster until Tuesday. Frankie Montas (37.4% rostered) would be a good option against the Milwaukee Brewers, and his start later this week is projected to be against the Chicago White Sox. Logan Allen (20.4% rostered) is expected to start against the White Sox on Tuesday and then the Boston Red Sox later in the week. For now, don’t drop Valdez outright to make a move since he could only need some extra rest before making a start in the next week.