Phillies: Aaron Altherr headed to the DL with hamstring injury

Aaron Altherr is headed to DL for the Phillies after suffering a hamstring strain. What is the fantasy fallout of the injury news?

A key to any successful fantasy season is uncovering those breakout stars that emerge from nowhere. Aaron Altherr was proving to be one of the best breakout stars this season for the Phillies. But, the youngster is now headed to the DL with a strained hamstring. Hamstrings are always tricky to recover from, so the return time line is unclear.

Altherr currently sits with a .288/14 HR/44 RBI/40 R/.898 OPS/5 SB line over 301 at-bats this season. He is showing the raw talent that the team always wanted to see and continues to look like a huge piece of the Phillies’ core moving forward.

It will be hard to find a potential replacement for Altherr, as he was supplying solid all-around power numbers. While the MLB landscape makes it somewhat easy to find power numbers off the waiver wire, one potential replacement could be donning a Phillies’ uniform right now.

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Nick Williams has only played 13 games at the MLB level but has impressed already. The top-prospect was one of the major components of the trade that saw Cole Hamels head to Texas in 2015.

Like Altherr, no one questions Williams’ raw talent, and he has continued to excel in the minors. At AAA Lehigh Valley this season, he amassed a .280/15 HR/44 RBI/.839 OPS line over 306 at-bats. Ironically, a very similar line to what Altherr was able to do in the majors this year.

Williams is seeing his starts in right for the Phillies’ and with the absence of Altherr as well, he will surely get an extended look to finish the season. Over 47 at-bats for Philly, he has notched 12 hits and holds a .279/2 HR/6 RBI/.794 OPS line.

The holes in Williams’ game are obvious. He swings and missed a ton, already has 13 K compared to two walks in the majors, and struck out 136 times in 2016 and 90 times at AAA in 2017.

Expecting AVG help is not wise, but the power and counting stats could come close to what Altherr was providing on a weekly basis. He already has his first grand slam under his belt and is seeing at-bats in the middle of the lineup already.

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Losing Aaron Altherr sucks for those fantasy owners that were able to pounce on him off the waiver wire. But, there options out there that can help, and Nick Williams jumps off the page as a first target. Give the young lefty a closer look off the waiver wire as he is hot at the plate, getting at-bats in the middle of the lineup and plays his home games in a great offensive ballpark.