by Todd Lammi
Following up on my previous post, let’s examine the pitchers that are returning from injury in 2008 that will have an impact on this year’s fantasy baseball season.
Yovani Gallardo: Gallardo came back at the tail end of 2008 after undergoing surgery on both of his knees. His 24 innings pitched means he might be limited to 175 innings this season in attempts to prevent injury. Helping his cause is that he declined to pitch for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic which might have further limited his innings for the Milwaukee Brewers. Gallardo currently has an ADP of 118, ranking him ahead of Rich Harden, Ricky Nolasco and Carlos Zambrano. If you want to draft him, don’t count on him sliding.
Erik Bedard: Bedard underwent shoulder surgery in September last year. He has had two mound sessions since February 15th and has reported no problems so far. It is interesting to note that before the injury, his k/9 ratio was at 8.0, which was in line with his 2006 season of 7.9. That is number you should be hoping for if you draft him and he is healthy. His 2007 ratio of 10.9 k/9 seems like an outlier. Bedard currently has an ADP of 188 which puts him in the company of Scott Baker, Ted Lilly and Clayton Kershaw.
John Maine: Maine underwent surgery last September on his right shoulder. He started an intrasquad game yesterday, pitching two innings, allowing one hit with two strikeouts and zero earned runs. In an effort to reduce his pitch counts this season, New York Mets pitch coach Dan Warthen is asking Maine to starting using his curveball again. Maine currently has ADP of 241 which puts him in the neighborhood of Gil Meche, Jered Weaver and Wandy Rodriguez.
Chien-Ming Wang: Wang tore the tendon in his right foot last June and missed the remainder of the season. Wang had his mound session back on February 3rd and looks to be in good health as he prepares for the start of the season. His current ADP is 222 which puts him slight ahead of John Maine. With Wang you know are going to get a decent amount of wins and few strikeouts. He managed to bump his k/9 ratio to 5.1 before his injury, but over 200 innings, that only comes out to 113 strikeouts.
Justin Duchscherer: Coming off of hip surgery for a second year in a row, Duchscherer should be fine to start the season. Last year his career high 141 innings were the most since he threw 96 innings in 2004. He has the stuff to post decent numbers, the problem is there is no guarantee he makes it through the entire season, much less the all-star break.
Jeremy Bonderman: Bonderman was sidelined last June with a blood clot in his arm. He has thrown four times already since arriving in camp and has experienced no problems so far. After having not thrown for eight months, there is a chance Bonderman will be left behind for extended spring training to build up his arm strength. In 2007, the breakout year that many expcted for Bonderman never materialized as he compiled a 5.01 e.r.a. He had a very good k/9 ratio at 7.5 so if he starts the season in the Detroit Tigers rotation, he is someone worth taking a flyer on, particulary in AL only leagues.
Fausto Carmona: Carmona missed two months last season with a strained hip, only to return late in the year and get pounded on. Before his injury, Carmona sported a 3.10 e.ra. with a 1.59 whip ratio, thanks to an ugly 38-23 walk to strikeout ratio. The Indians had Carmona working to correct a flaw in his delivery while pitching in the Dominican Winter League so the expectation is that he will turn that ratio around in 2009.
