Fantasy Baseball Injury Updates - 4/1

We take a glance around the league at players who are dealing with injuries early in the season and what it means for their fantasy value.

J.D. Drew - Picked by many to have a comeback season, Drew's season came a screeching hault before it started in Japan with a lower back soreness. J.D. Drew will be OUT for Tuesday night's game against Oakland but WILL play on Wednesday's day game. Be sure to bench Drew for tonight, but get him back out there for tomorrow. The Sox are being careful with Drew and given his injury history that is certainly for the best.

B.J.Ryan - The closer tossed anothe bullpen session on Sundan and looks primed to be ready to return to the majors in the enxt few weeks. If he went undrafted in your league be sure to grab and stash him on your DL. He will be worth the wait when he is healthy. He will probably split closing duties with Jeremy Accardo early on, but they are paying him too much money to simply split closing duties.

Carlos Zambrano - Zambrano lefty his start on Monday after 6.2 innings with a forearm cramp. Zambrano looked dominant during the start and looks primed to have another big season. It is still early in the season so Zambrano as well as other players are still prone to minor tweeks, cramps and pulls such as this one. Zambrano has suffered cramps in the past, so this isn't anything to worry about and he should be fine going forward.

Victor Martinez - Suffered a strained hamstring on opening day and had to leave the game early. The Indians have him listed as day-to-day officially but are still awaiting the results of an MRI before they know more details about the injury. A positive thing here is that V-Mart is not a gy who relys on speed to put up good fantasy stats, so the hamstring problem should effect his stats that much. He is a slugger and a base to base guy whose strength is being a 25HR, 100RBI catcher. The true extent of the possible negative won't be known until the MRI results come back, but it could mean a few days off or a stay on the DL. Bench him for a few days, and if you have space on your roster grab a catcher to fill in, especially in a head-to-head league where you need those daily stat accumulations.

Brad Lidge - Threw another bullpen and looks healthy and primed for a Sunday return in Cincinnati. Grab him if he went undrafted in your league for some reason and be ready to add him into your starting lineup for the weekend.

Chad Cordero - Shoulder tendinitis knocked him out of the home opener before he even got a chance to get in. What trouble me about his injury is that it was reported that it was a problem throughout spring training and is still bother him in the regular season. That being said, his shoulder won't be reevaluated until tomorrow (Wednseday April 2) after that, more will be known. In head-to-head leagues grab Jon Rauch for the week as he will fill in while Cordero is out.

Kelly Johnson - Strained his right knee on Monday and suffered through injuries like this last season. Keep on eye on Johnson, but it might be a good idea to bench him until more is known. He was a bit overrated going into this season, so I wouldn't worry too much if you feel as if you need to cut him.

Jeremy Hermida - The player many had picked to break out this season, after a huge second half in '07 strained his hammy late in spring training. He will play in a couple of minor league game this week and should be good to go by next week. Hermida is a good option to keep stashed on your bench, his potential is great for 2008, but the injury history is almost just as troubling.