Diamondbacks AJ Pollock Out 4 to 8 Weeks: Fantasy impact

The Diamondbacks will be without their top outfielder AJ Pollock for one to two months. How should fantasy owners react?

The injury bug is running rampant. The most recent victim is Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder AJ Pollock. He suffered a fracture of his left thumb and will be out four to eight weeks. The good news is that he will not require surgery, according to Jack Magruder of the Sports Xchange. How should his fantasy owners react to the news?

Pollock was having a fantastic season, hitting .293 with 11 home runs, 33 RBIs, 23 runs scored and nine steals in 40 games. With little power coming from the rest of the Diamondbacks lineup, partly due to the humidor in Chase Field, Pollock was the lone bright spot.

The original thought was that it was just a sprain but further testing revealed the fracture. The Mayo Clinic defines an avulsion fracture, what Pollock officially has, as “a small chunk of bone attached to a tendon or ligament gets pulled away from the main part of the bone.” Ouch.

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If you play in a shallow league, you may be able to find someone close to his value on the waiver wire while stashing him on your DL. Those in deeper mixed or NL-only leagues have no choice but to keep him rostered, regardless of the estimated time missed.

The Diamondbacks have David Peralta and Steven Souza in left and right field, respectively. The team has Jarrod Dyson and Chris Owings to fill in but they aren’t anyone I want to add to my roster.

Looking outfield of the Arizona organization, there are some decent outfielders worth picking him in all league formats.

Travis Jankowski joined the Padres a couple of weeks ago and is currently hitting .370 with four steals already. His teammates Franchy Cordero and Jose Pirela are getting more playing time, too. However, the looming return of Wil Myers will eat into their playing time some.

Mark Canha of Oakland is looking good with his .270 batting average and six home runs. He’s owned in just 15 percent of CBS Sports leagues.

Pollock has been hurt a bit over the last couple of seasons. His last full season came in 2015 when he played in 157 games and made an All-Star game appearance. Though, I still wouldn’t label him as “injury prone.” If he’s 100 percent by Opening Day next year, I’m drafting him.

Next: Clint Frazier is back in the Bronx

Pollock will just have to put his amazing 2018 on hold. His fantasy owners are hoping it’s for four weeks and not eight.

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