How long will Jose Reyes’ rib injury sideline him?
The latest chapter in Jose Reyes’ injury history began on April 10th, when he injured a left-side muscle while playing against the Baltimore Orioles. He attempted to play through the pain, batting .360 with three doubles among his nine hits, until he left April 16th’s contest against Tampa Bay following his first at-bat. Reyes missed the subsequent three-game series versus Atlanta after an MRI revealed a crack in one of the ribs on his left side. Indicating that the pain was the worst when batting from the left side, Reyes temporarily abandoned switch hitting and returned to action on April 21st. He played in six of the next seven contests, but struggled with just three singles in 23 at-bats. Finally, on April 27th, Toronto placed Reyes on the 15-day DL.
Quite frankly, I am surprised that the Blue Jays waited this long to use the disabled list to allow time for Reyes’ rib fracture to heal. In a report by John Lott of The National Post, Reyes gave clues as to his struggles because he was no longer able to bat from both sides of the place. “When I hit against a righty from the left side, the slider comes to me, you know? Now, right on right, the slider goes away from me. That’s a different ball game.” He also indicated that he was playing through pain. “Some days better, some the same”, he said. “I can’t wait to feel good and start to hit from the left side. I don’t want to do that for a long period of time against righties because it’s no fun at all for me.”
In the short-term, this is the best thing that could have happened to Reyes and his fantasy owners, as this move will allow time for both the fracture and the muscle strain to heal. Toronto has yet to announce a timetable for Reyes’ return, which makes it difficult for fantasy owners, as it will be difficult to find viable shortstops on the waiver wire. So, if you own Reyes, how long should you plan to be without his services?
A close comparison to this injury can be found from the 2014 season with Pirates slugger Andrew McCutchen. It was initially reported, on August 4, that McCutchen strained an oblique muscle. Later, the injury report was corrected to show that he actually fractured his 11th rib. According to a post on Beisbol’s Org, the average return-to-play time from an oblique injury for a batter is 31 days, but McCutchen, with the fracture, was able to return in two weeks. Based on this, unless Toronto announces that there was a setback, look for Jose Reyes to miss 2-4 weeks.
Of course, if you drafted Reyes you should have been aware of his extensive injury history. His injury report from Baseball Prospectus shows an abundance of hamstring, calf/Achilles tendon, and oblique injuries. One of the reasons fantasy owners draft Reyes is because of his stolen base potential, and his frequent injuries make it difficult to predict how many bags he will swipe season to season. Much like running backs in fantasy football, any owner that drafted Reyes should have a solid backup for when the inevitable injury occurs.
In looking to replace Reyes, there are very few options available on the waiver wire in most leagues, but hopefully you are only looking to replace his production for two weeks. Wilmer Flores is hot for the Mets right now, and could provide power numbers for the next few weeks. In Philadelphia, Odubel Herrera continues to get regular at-bats and is hitting .300 with four stolen bases. If he continues to get on base he could help replace Reyes’ lost stolen bases. In Arizona, Chris Owings appears to be breaking out of his early-season slump and can provide some cheap speed and, in the deepest of deep leagues, Seattle’s Brad Miller could provide his owners with a few steals.
Jeremy Tiermini is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Jeremy, check out his archive and follow him @JeremyTiermini.
