The value of injury stashes in fantasy baseball varies by league type, bench size and the number of Injured List (IL) spots. Players who won’t miss much time have value in all scoring types. However, long-term stashes are more viable in head-to-head formats, where the end of the season, specifically the fantasy playoffs, has the most value. Additionally, leagues with deep benches or multiple IL spots enhance the appeal of stashing injured players, regardless of the league type. The following injury stashes are split between short-term and long-term stashes.

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Injury Stashes (2023 Fantasy Baseball)

Short-term Stashes

Joe Musgrove (SP – SD): 85.0 ADP & 101.3 ECR

Musgrove was outstanding last year. According to FanGraphs, he had a career-low 2.93 ERA, 3.27 xERA, 1.08 WHIP, 5.7 BB%, 24.9 K%, 30.8 CSW% and 10 wins in 30 starts spanning 181.0 innings last year. As a result, he was the 29th-ranked pitcher in 2022.

Sadly, he fractured his left big toe on February 27, removing him from consideration for Opening Day. Musgrove is likely to miss one or two starts. However, the righty is doing everything he can to hasten his recovery, including using a hyperbaric chamber and adhering to a diet created by San Diego’s nutritionist Whitney Milano, per Kevin Acee.

Thankfully, Musgrove is throwing a weighted ball and keeping his arm ready. So, he shouldn’t need a substantial ramp-up period when his toe is healthy enough to play. Musgove’s average draft position (ADP) has dipped slightly and is reasonable.

Tyler Glasnow (SP – TB): 96.4 ADP & 118.3 ECR

Glasnow pitched only 18.2 innings in 2022 after his Tommy John surgery. So, he presumably faced innings restrictions this year. However, he won’t start eating into those innings to begin the year. Instead, he’s on the shelf with an oblique strain.

Glasnow hurt his oblique on February 27 and was projected to miss six to eight weeks. The Rays will likely exercise extreme caution with their talented hurler. Nevertheless, the injury might be a blessing in disguise.

Glasnow won’t start chewing up innings out of the gate. And, again, he almost certainly faces an innings cap this year. In head-to-head leagues, gamers would benefit greatly from Glasnow not reaching his innings cap by the fantasy playoffs.

Gamers in roto leagues might also benefit from the injury. The Rays could have conceivably used Glasnow as an opener semi-regularly to manage his innings without skipping starts or shutting him down early. Obviously, if he were lifted before five innings as an opener, he wouldn’t qualify for the win, depressing his value in standard 5×5 leagues. Tampa Bay still might use him as an opener to massage his innings, but they might not need to as often because of the IL stint to open the year. The expert consensus ranking (ECR) is fair, and so is the ADP for popping Glasnow. Finally, the ability to stash Glasnow in an IL spot in leagues that use them is preferable to keeping him on the bench for skipped starts if he opened the year in the rotation. So, the injury isn’t necessarily the negative it appears to be at a glance.

Adalberto Mondesi (SS – BOS): 238.0 ADP & 240.1 ECR

Spoiler alert, Trevor Story isn’t forthcoming as a long-term stash. Still, Story will miss a significant chunk of this year and possibly the entire 2023 campaign after a disappointing first year in Boston. Xander Bogaerts also bolted in free agency, leaving holes in the middle of Boston’s infield.

The Red Sox traded for Mondesi as an option to help fill one of the middle-infield voids. The speedy infielder missed most of last year because of an ACL injury and will open the year on the IL. He’s already been eased into baseball activities, and the team’s medical staff examined him Monday. Though, they haven’t released a concrete timetable for his return. Barring an unexpected setback, Mondesi should debut for the Red Sox early in the 2023 campaign.

Mondesi is an attractive value selection for useful power and top-shelf speed, likely at the expense of batting average. Still, the speedy infielder is a career .244 hitter with a .265 batting average in 967 plate appearances from 2018 through 2020. Mondesi’s range for batting average is vast because he’s a high-strikeout hitter but fast enough to post high BABIPs to inflate his average. Regardless, Mondesi has averaged 15.1 homers and 51.4 stolen bases per 500 plate appearances since 2018. Gamers needing speed who can stomach the low end of Mondesi’s batting average range should select him around his ADP, reaching if necessary to secure his services.

Long-term Stashes

Bryce Harper (OF – PHI): 137.4 ADP & 163.1 ECR

The juice isn’t worth the squeeze for Harper at his ADP in roto formats. However, his game-changing talent can swing the balance of head-to-head leagues during the fantasy playoffs. Therefore, the gambit of rolling the dice on him is intriguing in head-to-head formats.

According to FanGraphs, in 1,025 plate appearances since 2021, Harper had 164 runs, 53 homers, 149 RBI, 24 stolen bases, .300/.402/.571 triple slash and 157 wRC+. The sweet-swinging lefty can excel in four categories and chip in stolen bases when he returns from Tommy John surgery he underwent in late November. The original expectation was for Harper to return as a designated hitter by the All-Star break. He’s reporting to spring training, and a firmer timetable will come into focus as Harper progresses through rehab. Gamers willing to make unexciting, rock-steady picks earlier in head-to-head drafts can take the proverbial swing for the fences on Harper as early as the middle of the 10th round, but preferably closer to his ADP.

Tarik Skubal (SP – DET): 379.5 ADP & 396.8 ECR

Skubal and the next player are precisely how to fully maximize roster spots in leagues with IL spots for cheap. Skubal had flexor tendon surgery last August. A timetable for Skubal’s return is unclear, but the linked article said the typical recovery period was between six and nine months.

When the young lefty returns, he’ll attempt to build on his breakout 2022 campaign. Skubal had a 3.52 ERA, 3.34 xERA, 1.16 WHIP, 6.7 BB%, 24.5 K% and 27.7 CSW% in 21 starts spanning 117.2 innings. Wins might be tricky for Skubal to come by on the rebuilding Tigers, but he can help fantasy squads in three categories if he seamlessly bounces back from surgery. Skubal’s cost is minimal. Gamers who don’t draft players earlier who are IL eligible should take a stab at Skubal and stash him until or if his IL spot is required for someone else. And if Skubal has a setback or gamers need his IL spot, he’s not a painful cut at his ADP.

John Means (SP – BAL): 466.7 ADP & N/A ECR

Means fits the bill as another hurler gamers can get for cheap and stash as long as all IL spots aren’t needed to stash more valuable players. The southpaw had Tommy John surgery on April 27, 2022. There isn’t a set-in-stone date for Means’ return, but July or August appear the most likely based on what Baltimore’s vice president and general manager Mike Elias said on MLB Network Radio.

In Means’ last 28 starts totaling 154.2 innings before hurting his elbow, he had a 3.61 ERA, 4.09 SIERA, 1.04 WHIP, 4.5 BB%, 22.6 K% and 26.5 CSW%. They weren’t world-beater numbers. However, Means’ production was rock-solid. He also enjoyed the perks of Baltimore’s renovations to their home ballpark for only two starts last season. As I noted in MLB Park Factors Overview & Targets (2023 Fantasy Baseball), Oriole Park at Camden Yards was a pitcher-friendly venue last year. If Means recaptures his pre-surgery form, he could improve his numbers. The most likely outcome in 2023 is Means failing to move the needle in most fantasy formats. Still, there’s no harm in picking Means in the last round of drafts or scooping him out of the free-agent pool to stash him in an unused IL spot.

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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.