Wow, this one came out of nowhere! Drew Rasmussen has been placed on the 60-day IL with a flexor strain, an elbow injury that is typical bad news. This is a major injury for a pitcher and he’ll be out for at least two months, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out longer. This is a huge blow, both for the Tampa Bay Rays’ top spot (especially when you consider the fact that they also lost Jeffrey Springs and still don’t have Tyler Glasnow available) and for fantasy baseball coaches. He has pitched very well this season and will be a tough piece to replace. Be sure to check out the fantasy baseball draft rankings and the fantasy baseball waiver wire report for potential picks for your fantasy team. If your league doesn’t have IL sites, you can safely drop it at this point.
Rasmussen just threw seven shutout innings against the New York Yankees last night while giving up just two hits and striking out seven. He also didn’t give up a run in his previous outing, pitching 5.2 shutout innings against the Yankees themselves. He lowered his season ERA to 2.62 and has 47 strikeouts in 44.2 innings of work. He was the type of pitcher that fantasy baseball managers could throw every outing with a set-it-and-forget-it mentality. As for the Rays, who replaces him in the rotation?
Taj Bradley is the obvious replacement here for the Rays and is worth adding immediately if he’s available on your waiver wire. Our own Matt Selz wrote about Bradley in the Week 3 Prospect Report and Colby Conway wrote about him in the Streaks & Trends article a few weeks ago. He was shocking when he was sent back to AAA after posting a 3.52 ERA in his first three starts while striking out 23 batters in 15.1 innings of work. However, he has struggled mightily in AAA since being sent down, so it will be interesting to see if the Rays continue down that path. Luis Patino, Elvin Rodriguez or Cooper Criswell could also be options, but Bradley is the only one worth considering for fantasy baseball. Glasnow can’t come back soon enough for the Rays right now with all the injuries to their pitching staff. However, the Rays are still comfortably atop the AL East with a 30-9 record (five games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles). They are a great team and it helps that their starters have a better chance of getting a win for fantasy baseball purposes, so keep an eye on what they decide to do. Meanwhile, add Bradley right now if you can.
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