Despite two games already being played, the Major League Baseball season begins in earnest March 28. Teams are making final roster cuts and putting the finishing touches on their roster.

Unfortunately, there have been injuries to important fantasy performers throughout spring training that owners have to be aware of. With drafts coming to an end soon and owners making final tweaks to their rosters, I wanted to offer a rundown of some of baseball’s biggest injury concerns heading into Opening Day:

Los Angeles Dodgers Starting Pitcher Clayton Kershaw

How the mighty have fallen. Kershaw was a lock for years as the No. 1 pitcher, but the left-hander has failed to make 28 starts in four of the last five years. The injuries continued this spring, as the veteran has dealt with a shoulder injury that will force him to begin the season on the injured list and miss at least the first couple of weeks of the season.

Fantasy Advice: The best-case scenario would be for Kershaw to miss a couple of starts, which should put him in line to still have a productive season. The recent string of injuries along with the lost spring has made Kershaw’s draft-day stock drop to 56th overall. What made Kershaw a bust in recent seasons was not only the injuries, but the draft-day capital. With Kershaw falling in drafts, that’s now gone. Sign me up for the ace in the later part of Round 4 and just realize you may only get 25 starts at most.

Cleveland Indians Shortstop Francisco Lindor

Lindor suffered a calf injury in early February that has kept him from participating in spring training. The original timetable had Lindor possibly returning in the middle of April, but he has ramped up activities lately and may only miss the first 10 days of the season.

Fantasy Advice: Lindor was being drafted in the top five prior to the injury and has now dropped into the second round. Other than his midseason promotion in 2015, Lindor hasn’t played fewer than 158 games in a season, which is why he has been one of the most durable fantasy options. That won’t happen this season, but I still believe a 140-game season is possible. We need to scale back expectations in the stolen base department; I don’t think he will get to 25 like last season. However, he should still approach 30 home runs and steal around 20 bases. His No. 14 overall average draft position is fair, and we will just need to account that he will miss the first couple of weeks of the season at most.

Cleveland Indians Infielder Jose Ramirez

The Indians can’t afford to lose their top two players to start the season, but that may be the case as Ramirez had to be carted off the field on March 24 after fouling a ball off his leg. An X-ray was taken and came back negative. Ramirez is listed as day-to-day.

Fantasy Advice: This injury could linger into the season and force Ramirez to miss a couple of games to begin the year, but it doesn’t appear that it will force him on the injured list. Ramirez has an average draft position of three, and I’m still comfortable drafting him there.

New York Yankees Starting Pitcher Luis Severino

The right-hander was diagnosed with inflammation in his right rotator cuff March 5, and that will sideline him for at least the first month of the season.

Fantasy Advice: Severino has an average draft position of 60 right now, which is only four spots lower than Kershaw. However, Kershaw is expected back way before Severino. To invest a fifth-round pick in a player that will miss the first month of the season is too risky for me. If we factor in Severino’s struggles during the second half of last season, then this is an easy decision. I will avoid the righty in 2019 and find my starting pitching options elsewhere.

Phil Backert

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