The injuries continue in fantasy baseball as New York Mets ace pitcher Jacob deGrom left his start on May 9 with a back injury. The top pitcher in baseball will undergo an MRI to find out the extent of the injury, but this isn’t great news. We’ll hope for the best, but fantasy owners should prepare to find a replacement.

Three Up:

1. Texas Rangers Outfielder Adolis Garcia — The 28-year-old is considered a rookie and is making the most out of his opportunity this season. Garcia finished this past week with a .464 batting average and hit four home runs along with 12 RBIs, six runs scored and a stolen base. For the season, Garcia is batting .297 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs. Garcia is batting in the middle of the lineup for the Rangers and is playing every day, so he will continue to have the chances to make a big fantasy impact.

2. Atlanta Braves Starting Pitcher Huascar Ynoa — The 22-year-old is having an impressive season, as he is pitching to a 2.23 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. This past week, Ynoa won both of his starts to give him four wins this season and finished with 10 strikeouts. These are the types of players who help win championships since they were an afterthought during draft season. It will be hard for Ynoa to keep up this pace, but he should continue to help fantasy owners.

3. Baltimore Orioles Starting Pitcher John Means — We thought highly of Means during draft season, and he’s coming through in a big way for fantasy owners. The left-hander topped off his strong start to the season by throwing a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners May 5. For the season, Means has a 1.37 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and four wins. Means did not allow more than one earned run in any of his final four starts last season and has allowed three runs or less in every start this year. There’s no doubt Means is pitching as well as anyone in baseball and is helping fantasy owners in a big way.

Three Down:

1. Atlanta Braves Outfielder Marcell Ozuna — The outfielder had a rough week, only collecting five hits and continuing his slow start to the season. Ozuna is only batting .201 with four home runs, and his .313 slugging percentage would be the lowest of his career. I cautioned fantasy owners in March about Ozuna and through the first six weeks it’s proven to be true. The outfielder is not this bad, but he’s letting down fantasy owners who thought his great 2020 season would be duplicated.

2. Houston Astros Starting Pitcher Zack Greinke — It’s been a rough few starts for the veteran. The right-hander has not finished five innings in any of his last three starts while allowing at least three runs in each of those. Greinke went from a strong 2.76 ERA to 4.23. This is something to monitor, as fantasy owners can’t hold be using pitchers who aren’t getting deep into games while also allowing multiple runs.

3. Philadelphia Phillies Third Baseman Alec Bohm — Expectations were high for Bohm entering a full season after hitting .338 in 44 games in 2020. However, it’s been a struggle, as the third baseman is batting .217 through 35 games. Bohm had a .400 on-base percentage last year and this year it’s only .245. The Phillies’ lineup is talented, so Bohm should be seeing more pitches to hit. This is something fantasy owners need to monitor, as there’s no long history of Bohm being a productive hitter in the big leagues.

Phil Backert

See all posts by Phil Backert. Follow Phil Backert on Twitter at @PhilBackert